In classic SZA fashion, the deluxe version of her second album “SOS,” titled “Lana,” arrived later than expected — a testament to her perfectionism. Although teased to release at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 20, 2024, SZA spent the morning making finishing touches, sweetening the deal by dropping a teaser music video, featuring actor Ben Stiller, for the song “Drive” at the original drop time. It wasn’t until 3 p.m. when my Spotify refreshed and I was finally able to embark on my latest SZA-inspired spiritual journey. A winterim-emptied and situationship-drained receptacle, I sat on a park bench near my home in Florida and pressed play. Dropped two years after its parent album, the deluxe version was well worth the wait. On that perfectly sunny afternoon, I floated away to the tune of the opening flute synths on “No More Hiding.”
The title “Lana” — a reference to her first tattoo and a shortened version of her name, Solána — is indicative of the album’s central purpose: a deeply interior exploration of emotion, no holds barred. “No More Hiding,” an acoustic guitar-supported declaration of self-acceptance and sensitivity, is the perfect opener to the album’s 14 new tracks. SZA yearns for “sun on my skin / even if it burns or blinds me,” searching for authenticity and to “be purified within.” Listeners are quickly made aware that the songs to come will be stripped back and lightly produced, yet emotionally insightful.
From the raw vulnerability of “No More Hiding,” the second track “What Do I Do” immediately swings into darker territory. Backed by a pounding bass, SZA seethes over her situationship seeing someone else while pondering her next move. Other tracks on “Lana” take on a melancholic tone of self-reflection. On “Scorsese Baby Daddy,” SZA questions a desire for turbulent, violent love — the kind of drama a Martin Scorsese movie displays. On “Love Me 4 Me,” she yearns for an authentic, insightful partner, and on “Crybaby,” she bemoans: “If I stopped blaming the world for my faults, I could evolve.”
On other tracks, SZA dives into the soft and sensual. “Diamond Boy (DTM),” first teased on Instagram in August of 2023, is a soulful expression of the instability of a lover’s relationship. SZA expresses her need for her “diamond boy,” singing “you make being me less hard” — but also worries that she is “addicted, that’s why I keep calling you,” and begs him to tell her if she is “doin’ too much.” One track, meanwhile, is striking for its bizarre positivity when held up to the rest of the album: “BMF,” sampling the famous bossa nova “Girl from Ipanema,” seems to focus on the shallow attraction of an early-stage relationship. Perhaps this song stands out because it was written much earlier than the rest of “Lana” in 2023, similar to “Diamond Boy (DTM).”
The promotional material and art for “Lana” centered around a natural aesthetic — the cover shows SZA in a grassy field, dressed in streetwear with an ant headpiece. And just like her buglike imagery, SZA lets nothing pierce her hardy exoskeleton. Even after the bittersweetness of some tracks, SZA comes back swinging with reflections on confidence and genuine connection. In the third track — a stellar collaboration with Kendrick Lamar titled “30 For 30” — vocals from both artists twist together in a triumphant search for genuine connection. The song epitomizes the emotional volatility of “Lana”: one morning, SZA may find herself “crashed out on a black-sand beach,” but she nonetheless continues to search for stability, proclaiming, “Only want your love if it’s solid.”
Other songs express a balance between moments of weakness and newfound strength. On “Kitchen,” for example, SZA acknowledges her continued weakness in her relationship with a lover who “makes me forget, I forgive him.” However, she also asserts her own independence and confidence, singing: “You know we got a real history / That don’t mean I’ll let you abuse me.” The later songs in the album build upon this momentum — on the lush “My Turn,” she proclaims “My turn, I did the learnin’ / Your turn to do the hurtin’.” On the cheeky “Get Behind Me (Interlude),” a sample from TikTok user @thickneyy opens a powerful declaration of “Ain’t no turnin’ down, we’re too loud.”
Ultimately, “Lana” is a masterpiece for its perception, authenticity and emotional introspection. Reading as an intensely personal collection of songs, the new material ends with the ethereal “Saturn” — released as a single in February 2024 — before including the tracks on the original release of “SOS.” Some of the newer tracks were teased or leaked before “Lana’s” release — and “Lana” is certainly more down-tempo than SZA’s past albums — but it ultimately could stand on its own from “SOS” as a more lowkey but nonetheless complete album.
Readers, my takeaway from “Lana” is relatively simple: If you have ever crashed out from a toxic relationship that led you to question your own psyche and place in the world, you will relate to this album. SZA possesses a unique talent to shine a light into the deepest recesses of the soul, those parts that we don’t always acknowledge — and she does it again here. The album makes a strong impression with a series of hard-hitters both musically and lyrically, but it ultimately alternates between fragile longing and confident self-affirmation. “Lana” is less consistent in its emotion than past albums, particularly SZA’s debut “Ctrl,” but this simply reflects the volatile relationships SZA (and her listeners) have experienced.
Rating: ★★★★1/2
