4/5
Sza Sister
Last Christmas, I gave Boston my heart. Spending time in a deserted Beantown, the only Laker fan in the city rocking an ugly purple and gold sweater...but that's another story. Walking down a frozen Newbury Street, the same time the Celtics cracked the whip on all the King's men, the only thing frostier would have been the icy reception I would have received if there was actually anybody about. I was there before meeting my parents in New York for New Year. The only other person rocking basketball garb was, wait for it...in a Los Angeles Laker tracksuit. My man. The biggest draw of the street was billboards for R&B renaissance woman SZA's Grammy winning (best prog R&B) album 'SOS'. It's iconic album artwork above the sea. Not to mention the same football uniform on the next project for your consideration, the deluxe edition of this classic tilted 'Lana'. Already long-delayed and eagerly-awaited to drop at this point last year, the writing on the wall was already starting to fade, as the poster began to peel.
Call off the SOS! Because, like a Rey of light, 'Lana' is finally here. And this revelation of a reissue that is actually an album in itself has come just in time for Christmas, and hopefully the New Year's Grammy consideration. No need to press CTRL-ALT-DELETE, even if it was delayed this New Music Friday and the last one before the shopping spree of December 25th. Driven by the second single and R.E.M. like opening of 'Drive', automatic for the people. Featuring 'Meet The Parents' and Knickerbocker number one fan (after Spike), Ben Stiller taking the wheel and the lip-syncing of a new music video, the same time he's driving to a new home in rural Ohio for his Hulu and Disney Plus Christmas movie, 'Nutcracker'. At the end of this road, however, he finds the formidable figure of SZA in a mask that won't be alien to you through the trees of something sensationally haunting in album art.
SZA is to modern R&B what RZA and the Wu-Tang are the children, and legendary hip-hop. And after all the stars including Boygenius Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott and the late, great Ol' Dirty Bastard saved our souls, frequent collaborator Kendrick Lamar (with the own surprise drive of his 'GNX' album) hits '30 For 30', in a highlight for an album whose own making is worthy of its own ESPN documentary. Or movie, like the standout 'Scorsese Baby Daddy'. Absolute cinema. Right from the coming out party of the opening offset, 'No More Hiding', to the closing circle of lead single 'Saturn', SZA is here and out of this world, all at the same time. Damn! This is all so fine. After the 'SOS' follow-up was dangling precariously over that diving board for some time, we no longer want to be saved. We're jumping all the way in.
The best 'Lana' since Lizzy Grant is not just a bounty of beautiful bonus tracks. It's a real record in its own right. Call it a fantastic follow-up. The third charm of an album after the 'Ctrl' singer's sensational sophomore set and act. The arch of St Louis' best talent since Nelly is right heere and terrific. Forget the fifteen-hour delay, mixes like this live on for eternity...or at least 'Another Life' for our generation still grateful for actual albums in the age of streaming. Sure, I'm gushing, and I need to 'Chill baby', but so is the 'Crybaby'. Giving it you raw on 'What Do I Do' ("Last night, you called on accident/Heard you f####n' on the other end/It's too late, it'll never be the same again/Too late, never be the same."), save your tears, cheaters. We've all been there on that kind of receiving end, even if we don't know it. So what are you gonna do?
A newly minted and engaged Benny Blanco produced that track. And when the 'DTM' of 'Diamond Boy' shines bright too, you'll see that there are only murderers in the studio, killing it and building like Selena Gomez as the marauder to midnight like a Tribe. On this quest for infamy, the iconic SZA also drops 'BMF' (and it's 'The Girl From Ipanema' stunning sample) like it hot (it is). Before demanding, like everybody in their right mind should, to 'Love Me 4 Me'. "I remember wanting a diamond ring/Wanted you to define me, I let you pay for everything/Why not?/Treated me like a slave/Promise you I’ll behave if you let me try again/For you, I'd change my name/For you, I'd kill my fame/For you, I'd be so different, won't recognize my face/Can't wait to go to my grave for you/All I'd care for you, you never saw me for me/Saw me for me, loved me for me." The rhythm and blues songbook just got great. The only thing missing from this BTS Hyde Park Summer hyped album is 'Joni', like Mitchell.
It's '(Her) Turn' now as we get behind here like an inspired interlude that feels as much like a real track as this feels like a legit LP. Solána Imani Rowe keeps the party going like those in the 'Kitchen' singing, "Dancing and kissing, the kitchen/Makes me forget, I forgive him/Mama told me I don't listen, back again/Crashing out on shrooms, I guard them/Cursing you solves all my problems/Vacationing in rock bottom, back again." When 'Lana' is cut together with the soul saving sensation 'SOS', you have a definitive double album with all eyez on it. Not to mention lent ears. Doing her peers proud, the Instagram postscript that was written becomes gospel. We are no longer teased, but patience has become a virtue. What else can we expect from somebody who wrote a century worth of songs over the last half decade to well and truly get this right? A yoga like mediation that shaped itself sporadically into the right frequency like Kenneth. Coming out of hiding, camouflaged in cargo and nature. Now 'Lana' is finally here like a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, the calendar is complete. Time for SZA to swim in that success. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Drive', 'Scorsese Baby Daddy', '30 For 30 (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)'.
Spin This: SZA - 'SOS'.
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