Some of the best SZA songs sound like buzzed rants to yourself in the mirror—dissociative and confrontational, hitting truths a little too raw to handle sober.
“Why can’t I stay alone just by myself? Wish I was comfortable just myself,” she complained on CTRL opener “Supermodel,” kindling a connection but still incapable to move on.
On “Drew Barrymore”:
“I get so lonely I forget what I’m worth.” SZA is still sleeping with ex-boyfriends she has no business entertaining five years later, shuddering at the consequences and yearning for the independence that would save her the pain. The harm to one’s reputation persists like a hangover: “My past can’t escape me/My pussy precedes me,” she sings on “Blind,” a stunning statement piece off her most recent record, SOS. Fuck! They detest the idea of a sexually liberated New Jersey lady prevailing.
SZA performs “Blind” while ruminating over beautiful violins and the delicate guitars of a Sufjan Stevens song, which tiptoe like a ballerina in pointe. SZA is as authentic and creatively electrifying as ever. How long will being vulnerable lead to abandonment? Where is the sanctuary where intense ladies can unwind and relax their minds? She makes the same turns because she can’t help but be drawn in by a man’s poisonous behavior or a funny 90s allusion. She is shamed for being and wanting too much. “It’s so embarrassing/All of the things I need living inside of me,” In song. SZA transforms deception and ignorance into holy revelation by alchemizing beauty from conflict as she cascades down vocal runs in her golden falsetto.
