Following the many teases and hints of her next project LANA, which have been circulating since 2022, along with the release of SZA’s surprise song “Saturn” in February 2024, SZA confirmed that LANA was to be released in late 2024. The highly anticipated album was dropped on December 20th, 2024, and is a deluxe version of SOS, consisting of 15 new songs and a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar.
With a period of two years before releasing SOS Deluxe: LANA, fans have been extremely excited to finally get new music from SZA. SZA has been featured on different albums since her previous release, such as on songs “luther” and “gloria” from Lamar’s album GNX. However, to finally have several new songs by her, fans are extremely excited to see what she came up with.
Ahead of the release of LANA, SZA dropped the music video for the lead single of the album, “Drive,” featuring Ben Stiller. The song tackles SZA’s thoughts on human connections, solitude, and existence itself. With lyrics like “I been up ’til sunrise, headed to nowhere / Hopin’ that someone’s missin’ me somewhere,” she creates a brilliantly layered yet simple song that a majority of people can relate to. The music video is also amazing in its simplicity as it centers on Ben Stiller driving and lip-syncing to the lyrics of “Drive.”
The album opens up with “No More Hiding” and sets the tone of LANA as a calmer album compared to SOS. It is a perfect way to start, and following it comes “What Do I Do,” which differentiates from the rest of the album as it lightens the mood. It is more of a frivolous song that is not as emotionally centered, but still showcases SZA’s ability to make such a fun song.
Kendrick Lamar is featured on “30 for 30,” and it has become a fan favorite with catchy lyrics such as “That’s the way I like it.” The song is great to sing along to and is perfect for when SZA and Kendrick Lamar start touring together in April 2025.
The next few songs are all complete masterpieces and demonstrate SZA’s lyrical abilities in various different ways. “Diamond Boy (DTM),” “BMF,” “Scorsese Baby Daddy,” and “Love Me 4 Me” are some of the most catchy songs on LANA and have easily become fan favorites. “BMF” has especially been gaining in popularity as it is similar to “What Do I Do” in the sense that it serves as a break from the other more emotionally heavy songs of the album. It is an energetic song centering around SZA having a crush and describing her feelings about it: “Young and he fine and he tall and he handsome.”
As the album continues, the songs become a bit more sensitive and emotionally heavy. “Crybaby,” “Kitchen,” and “Another Life” seem to be very personal to SZA and invoke emotional feelings within the listener. The lyrics are extremely relatable and combined with SZA’s angelic voice, these songs are absolutely beautiful.
“Crybaby” is so gut-wrenching and relatable that it would not be surprising to find people becoming crybabies over it. “Kitchen” centers around the struggles of toxic relationships and how people try to overcome them. SZA’s lyrics make the song so lovely even if the topic is heartbreaking. “Another Life” digs into the what-ifs of relationships as she sings about how in another life she and the person she loved could have worked out. It also brushes on the concepts of timing and how that can play into who someone ends up with.
Overall, SOS Deluxe: LANA is one of SZA’s greatest works. The album is packed with emotions and vulnerability yet can still be construed as catchy, fun, and energetic. SZA has definitely grown as an artist and it is shown throughout her lyrics and the quality of music she has been putting out lately.
