Lana
Although I knew the album was coming I’d already been working on an analysis on another artist who deconstructed their pain and hardship as a black woman on an impeccable body of work, but the minute I heard SZA’s teaser trailer for the upcoming project “Lana” I dropped what I was doing immediately. On the song “No More Hiding” SZA expresses the feeling of wanting to be vulnerable even if it burns, even if she is blinded, even if she is hurt, she doesn't want to hide anymore. She wants to be loved no matter what it costs her she’ll trade anything to feel, now. In the second verse, she laments that she wants to be the real her, ugly, mask off, threatening to cut herself open “to see what I’m made of”
I think the song “No More Hiding” is the perfect opening to this album, it gives us insight into what feelings SZA is going to portray as we dig deeper into the album, a raw openness about her emotions and desires, because Lana isn’t just a “deluxe” version of SZA’s highly acclaimed SOS from 2022 but an expansion of what was already a stellar album. For years fans of SZA’s work have clamored for the release of “LANA” a project that SZA herself spoke of and teased for quite some time but I’m sure that no one anticipated it would not only be a part of a deluxe release but also as impactful and incredible of an expansion as it is was. SZA has a way of creating timeless pieces of music that not only stand the test of time but also provide a lyric or sound for any life circumstance.
With track four “Diamond Boy (DTM)” SZA switches from heartbreak to desire and admiration for the mysterious, Diamond boy as she sings, “I need you poolside, you’ve been on my mind,” and “wonder if you all mine” but “what do it matter anyway? (Fuck it)” her feelings are clear she doesn’t care whether or not this boy is hers but it doesn't matter because she likes how he makes her feel, as she says “Diamond boy, your light so blinding.”
SZA’s message of unconditional love, or unrelenting desire spreads throughout this album, on tracks like “BMF” as she exclaims “I can’t keep my panties from dropping” after seeing a boy she finds attractive walk in. On “Scorsese Baby Daddy” she says “hate to be the one doing the most” but then says “can you be the one to love me for, you love me for it” and “Crybaby” where SZA recognizes that she's stuck in a cycle and accepts that “What can go wrong, will go wrong” it’s Murphy’s Law, but she defies this singing “you should stop focusing on the negative blocking the positive” seeming to at least acknowledge and hopefully attempt to break the cycle. I’ve been thinking often about this line attempting the break of a destructive cycle, a theme we see repeated in the next track.
On the track “Kitchen” SZA is heard confronting her toxic relationship in a conflict where both parties stay due to having history as she says “you make it hard for me to choose me” reminiscing over memories of dancing and kissing in the kitchen, which helps to make her forget and forgive him, but then she sings that “mama told me I don’t listen, back again.” the chorus makes it evident how much she's struggling with this as she sings, “so hard to do the right thing.” and in the end? It’s back to dancing and kissing in the kitchen “makes me think I forgive him.” Going back to her old relationship forgetting and forgiving him once again repeating the cycle. Feelings like this often hit hard to home especially as we go back to destructive relationships and cycles knowing that they are destructive but reveling in the love nonetheless.
My personal favorite track that Lana introduces to us though is “Another Life,” as SZA professes her love for someone proclaiming that their love is timeless and she doesn't wanna wait in line, the chorus hits hard as she sings “in another life I know we could ride out,” SZA needlessly hoping for things to change that things could be different, and by the end she's convinced that she’ll be “coming back for you to ride” even though she knows he’s gone she aims to chase him as she sings “Coming back for us in carriage, I don’t care who you marry.” It’s a powerful declaration of love and persistence regardless of the outcome, I come back to this song consistently, feeling the yearning for the love and acceptance that SZA refuses to give up on regardless of whether or not the love is returned. “Maybe in another life.”
The rest of the album is composed of songs we’ve already heard from SZA before, timeless staples such as “Saturn” brought to us as a single, “Kill Bill,” and “Snooze” but as I listened to the entire deluxe album for the third time, each song felt brand new, I listened to “Love Language” thoroughly enjoying her talk about her desire for understanding her lovers’ “Love Language” and being desired by them, “Blind” where SZA confronts the lack of love she feels but realizes that all the love she seeks is inside of her and she was simply blind to it, one of my personal favorites, “Special” where SZA sings about her insecurities, jealousy, and undesirability in the eyes of her lover and the viciously relatable feeling that she’s “given her special away to a loser.”
LANA is an impeccable addition to an already impressive piece of artistry by SZA. I couldn’t be any more grateful to exist at the same time as this fantastic piece of work that is the SOS Deluxe: LANA.
