Album Review: SZA - S EP

• by Tia Scott
• May 6, 2014

Following up on her amazing debut entitled See.SZA.Run, alternative R&B songstress SZA hits us with eight tracks of dark, dreamy, spacy production and harmonies in the form of the S EP. Now, I could say that the EP is a lucid fantasy that takes your mind and ears on an astral-projected voyage through sound and space, but that would just be downplaying this gorgeous collection of music.

The production shines bright with contributions from Felix Snow, WNDRBRD, Patrick Lukens, Zodiac, BrandUn DeShay and Waren Vaughn. However, the real star of the show is SZA’s playful use of her vocals as she experiments with high and low rhythms on songs like the breathtaking “Pray” and the enchanting “Wings.”

Standout tracks like “Aftermath” and “Ice.Moon” are engaging as they are ethereal while exposing SZA’s vulnerabilities and silent strength. Ironically, the snippets from the 1968 horror flick, Rosemary’s Baby, found throughout the project balances out the continuous beauty of the music, leaving listeners with the impression that we’ve just begun to scratch the surface of SZA’s brave creativity.

Overall, the S EP shows growth as an artist and vocalist on SZA’s part. She boldly went where most R&B artists crave to go, and this is a huge accomplishment considering the short amount of time she’s been creating music. If this rich blend of stimulating sounds is what she can accomplish in just two years, then we should definitely keep our eyes on the young Jersey native with angelic vocals and an intriguing dark side.