SZA Unveils Much-Anticipated Album 'Lana'

Los Angeles, Dec 21 (NationPress) Singer-songwriter SZA has unveiled her much-anticipated deluxe edition of her Grammy-winning 2022 album 'SOS', now titled 'Lana', following numerous delays.

The release of the album has faced a lengthy series of false starts, with anticipation building back in February when she dropped the track 'Saturn'. The album's artwork echoes the insect-and-forest themes that were showcased during her tour last summer, but it has finally arrived, according to 'Variety'.

This album features Kendrick Lamar on the track '30 for 30' (SZA also appears on two songs from his recent 'GNX' album) and includes production contributions from Lil Yachty and Benny Blanco on individual tracks.

As reported by 'Variety', her collaborators on the remaining songs comprise many of the original 'SOS' producers and songwriters, including Michael Uzowuru, ThankGod4Cody, Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, and others.

She previewed the album with a video for the song 'Drive', featuring Ben Stiller, on Thursday night.

SZA’s upcoming stadium tour with Kendrick Lamar represents an ideal moment to introduce new material, as she has been touring in support of 'SOS' since its release two years ago.

The latest promotional efforts began a week ago, coinciding with the two-year anniversary of 'SOS', featuring a brief video trailer that included a snippet of one of the album's tracks. The video shows SZA in a natural setting, pulling down her baggy camo pants to relieve herself by a creek.

She gazes directly into the camera before taking a tissue from her pocket, as the word 'Lana' appears on screen. The lyrics include, “You know we got a real history/That’s the reason I can’t choose me/You know that dick been good to me/You make it hard for me to choose me.”

While SZA has discussed the deluxe edition of 'SOS' since the album's debut, she described the album to 'Variety' in August of last year, stating, “(‘Lana’) contains outtakes (from ‘SOS’) and new material as well, I added a few songs. It’s like a whole new project. It’s called ‘Lana’, which is my name but also the first tattoo I ever got when I was 13. It cost 10 bucks a letter, and I only had 40, so that became my nickname for no apparent reason. ‘Lana’ really serves as the B-side of 'SOS'.”

Initially, the album seemed poised for release in February with the drop of 'Saturn', but just weeks later, SZA expressed frustration over fans leaking songs and announced she would be “starting ‘Lana’ from scratch” due to “y’all leaking three songs from the deluxe.” She added, “At this point, y’all can keep the throwaways and leaks. I’ll be starting ‘Lana’ from scratch. Do not ask me about it again,” later following up with, “I’ll compile the leaks you already have, and you can have those. Seems like a fair deal. ENJOY.”

That tweet was soon deleted. In a subsequent series of tweets, she stated that the deluxe edition of 'SOS' would now include “the leaks and outtakes,” while 'Lana' would stand as its own album. “Lana deserves more time and music that no one’s ever heard before,” she expressed.

However, she appears to have reverted to her original plan.