Album Review: SZA’s 15 Best Songs From ‘SOS’
Not sure where to start with SZA’s latest 23-track record? Afterglow has you covered with a review of its most noteworthy songs.
Written by Afterglow Staffers
Image courtesy of Top Dawg Entertainment
“SOS”
True to the album's cover, SZA finds herself lost at sea with the title track opener that kicks off with morse code and a gunshot. The perfect introduction to the break-up/revenge album the listener is about to witness. “SOS” inaugurates SZA into the rap game with production by Jay Versace and a wonderful sample flip of Gabriel Hardeman Delegation’s “Until I Found the Lord (My Soul Couldn’t Rest).” True to her Scorpio nature, Top Dawg Entertainment’s leading woman comes in scathing and seeking revenge on the man that broke her heart. Foreshadowing the passionate rage that manifests throughout the rest of the record, the first verse sends a metaphoric S.O.S. signal to listeners, “This ain't no warnin' shot / Case all you hoes forgot.” – Adam Cherian
“Kill Bill”
In this hypnotizingly bloodthirsty song, SZA wrestles with not wanting an ex to move on. She calls herself mature for having a therapist “to tell her that there’s other men,” yet it doesn’t allay the overwhelming love she still regrettingly feels for her ex. Her resolution? Killing him (and his new girlfriend too). In a dreamy chorus of undulating vocals and scintillating synths, she resolves that she’d “rather be in jail than alone.” As listeners lose themselves to the catchy beat and irresistible lyrical flow, the songstress metaphorically gives into her murderous intentions, in a twisted act of love. — Janie Bickerton
“Seek & Destroy”
By juxtaposing a catchy melody and chorus with dark thematic material, this track serves as the quintessential SOS-era SZA song. Masked by the memorable “Do it to you” hook, this track deals with something much more sinister. SZA desires revenge on her ex, citing her reasons as his tendency to “push [her] past [her] own capacity.” “Seek and destroy, all missiles deployed,” she sings in a brooding falsetto over mellowed out, pulsating synths. — C.S. Harper
“Blind”
First previewed at the end of the “Shirt”, “Blind” revolves around SZA’s pursuit for happiness everywhere apart from within herself. Trickling in with the faint ocean sounds of preceding song “Love Language,” “Blind” emulates the tension of a brewing storm with light acoustic strums accompanied by uneasy violin and cello strings. It was clear to the singer that she and her partner were on different pages, but it was not until later that she recognized how much she relied on others for validation. She sings, “It's so embarrassing / All of the love I seek living inside of me / I can't see, I'm blind.” This chorus extends with a soft echo of the word “blind,” reinforcing the loneliness she feels throughout this epiphany. — Isabel Alvarez
“Gone Girl”
One of the most ethereal cuts on SOS, “Gone Girl” begins with mellifluous vocalizations from the First Lady of TDE before mellow keys kick in. SZA uses the 2014 thriller “Gone Girl” as a metaphor in the chorus to evoke a faltering relationship. In true water sign energy, she begs her lover to respect her needs and boundaries — “I need more space and security / I need less voices, just you and me / I need your touch not your scrutiny” — but ultimately reveals that he’s lost her grasp on her: “Gone, girl / You better learn how to face it.” With its bittersweet lyrics and moody instrumental, “Gone Girl” is the perfect theme song for those “it’s complicated” type of relationships. — C.S. Harper
“Ghost in the Machine” (ft. Phoebe Bridgers)
A dream collaboration for sad girls everywhere, SZA and Phoebe Bridgers hope to escape the relentless mundanity of a hypocritical world in "Ghost in the Machine." "Can you distract me from all the disaster?" SZA implores, aiming to lose herself in intimacy, yet not rely on it. She sings of robots with hearts and people "drowning in vanity" as a contention with reality, which culminates in Bridgers’ chilling contribution in the bridge. “Waiting to feel clean / That’s so fucking boring,” Bridgers wails with exhaustion over feeling used, yet also feeling alone. Marked by ethereal vocals and despairing lyrics, this song is great for falling down the existential rabbit-hole. — Janie Bickerton
“F2F”
A song co-written with Lizzo would expectedly turn to hip-hop beats familiar to SZA’s previous work, but instead, the 13th track experiments with pop-punk. Gritty guitar sounds create an intimate and raw backdrop for her vulnerable, self-destructive lyrics. The melodic catchy verse meets a clash of grunge drums as she embraces the toxicity of her relationship as she sings, “Get a rise out of watchin' you fall / Get a kick out of missin' your gut / I hate me enough for the two of us.” Though the song is sonically divisive from the smooth but sensual tunes that fill Ctrl, the singer’s emotions of anguish and heartache remain. — Katie Karp
“Nobody Gets Me”
She’s a little bit country, she’s a little bit emo. For the first time, SZA goes y’allternative for “Nobody Gets Me,” an acoustic track that features some of the record’s most powerful vocals. According to the singer, the ballad captures her final moments with her ex-fiancé. The track features some of SZA’s most down-to-earth — bordering on self-deprecating — lyrics: “If I’m real, I deserve less / If I was you, I wouldn’t take me back / I pretend when I’m with a man it’s you.” To go with the sonic melancholy, the song’s accompanying music video features black-and-white cinematography and features SZA singing on a rooftop — a reference to her music video for breakout hit “Drew Barrymore.” But instead of smoking with friends, the R&B darling finds herself alone, singing her heart out for a man that’s left her but gets her like nobody else does. — C.S. Harper
“Conceited”
Powerful in a serene manner that buoys confident lyrics, SZA is dynamic in track 15, “Conceited.” She lets listeners know that, despite having songs that often speak to the more brooding aspects of leaving behind relationships that aren’t serving you anymore, she rightfully remains in her own mind first. The best revenge is self-assuredness, and she emulates nothing less as she relaxedly sings, “I got everything that I need and I want more / I can’t take my foot off they neck, it’s an encore / I got everything and I’m living all for revenge / I been burning bridges, I’d do it over again.” SZA makes it obvious that she really is betting on herself. — Arundhati Ghosh
“Special”
It may be disheartening for someone as ethereally beautiful as SZA to say the words: “Hate how you look at her 'cause you never saw me / Like I was an art piece, like I was an ordinary girl,” but “Special” reminds the audience that anyone can make you feel insecure. The acoustic track calls back to Ctrl’s “Normal Girl,” in which SZA reminisces on the aspects of herself that she despises. This time, however, the same sentiment feels more like a jab to the stomach because the infidelity of her partner made her feel this way. The songstress makes the listener sympathize with her so much, that it may even push the listener to physically harm her ex. — Adam Cherian
“Far”
In “Far,” loneliness is an inevitability as SZA finds herself following her break-up. The song begins with a conversation she had with spiritual leader and author Sadhguru, in which she discloses being overcome by rejection and he quickly dismisses it by saying, “That's great / If nobody wants you, you're free.” SZA goes on to sing about how breaking off from her relationship helped her realize how far removed she became from herself, understanding she is “Far like [she] don’t recognize [her] / Far ‘cause [she] let [them] define [her].” Over a distorted guitar and slow paced synth beat, she confesses that she has lost sight of her needs but now is trying to get back on track. — Isabel Alvarez
“Shirt”
Initially teased at the end of the music video for “Good Days,” the third single off SOS delves deep into the dark caverns of SZA’s mind. Over a spacey beat, she seeks solace in the darkness, singing in the pre-chorus: “In the dark right now / Feelin’ lost, but I like it / Comfort in my sins and all about me.” The track also calls back to the theme of vengeance in “Seek & Destroy,” as she feels “the taste of resentment simmer in [her] skin” over a spiraling synth sound. She imagines herself taking revenge on her ex’s new girlfriend, leaving a “bloodstain on [SZA’s] shirt.” But despite the brashness of the songstress’ new bloodthirsty side, she still reveals in the chorus that she doesn’t know her worth. — C.S. Harper
“I Hate U”
Granted, SOS houses a number of songs perfect for exacting revenge on your ex but none match the contemptuous energy of “I Hate U.” The 21st track is filled with anger for her sadness and regret that her partner will never feel the same pain. After holding on to the relationship they lost for so long being “lost in the lie of [them],” the façade eventually fell and it became clear that she had to put the last nail in the coffin. In the chorus she sings, “And if you wonder if I hate you (I do) / Shitty of you to make me feel just like this / What I would do to make you feel just like this.” Over the track’s swelling synth and keys, SZA’s ownership of her hatred makes “I Hate U” feel like a mantra. — Isabel Alvarez
“Good Days”
“Good Days” explores SZA’s desire to heal. The stark contrast between this song and the previous on the tracklist, “I Hate U,” shows the singer reaching a point of peace. Its magic lies in how she chooses not to forgive — as her cheating partner does not deserve that — but instead opts to heal herself. The naturistic and light instrumentals create a sense of peace, yet throughout the song, the singer still evidently battles her demons. Initially released in 2020 as the album’s first single, the track shares the universal feeling of wishing for a better future, which is evident in its lyrics: “Gotta get right / Tryna free my mind before the end of the world / I don't miss no ex, I don't miss no text / I choose not to respond.” — Adam Cherian
“Forgiveless” (ft. Ol’ Dirty Bastard)
“I don’t care ‘bout consequences, I want my lick back!” SZA shout-raps defiantly at the beginning of SOS’s explosive final track. One of the must-listens of the album, this song samples “The Stomp” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard, serving as a sweet homage to the late Wu-Tang Clan member. With a boastful assist from the late rapper, a brash piano riff, and SZA’s snarky final line (“I might forgive it, I won’t forget it”), the song carries a braggadocious energy to close off the album with a bang. With this track, the songstress sheds her sad girl image in favor of a rap-rockstar persona, finding her inner strength and closing an important chapter of the SZA canon. — C.S. Harper