Ahead of her Saturday Night Live musical guest spot next month, SZA has revealed the title of her upcoming, much-anticipated new album: S.O.S.
Speaking to Billboard, the singer said that the LP — the follow-up to 2017’s Ctrl — is still on course for an undetermined December release date; SZA will appear on the Keke Palmer-hosted episode of SNL on Dec. 3.
SZA added that she’s “currently stressed” about meeting the December deadline. “I could literally burst into tears and run through this wall at any moment. I am effectively falling apart,” she told Billboard. “But it’s not like, the album pressure… It’s just, life is fucking hard. To be expected to do anything at a high level while life is life-ing is fucking crazy. This isn’t meant for a person; it’s meant for a machine.”
In October, SZA finally and officially released her new single “Shirt,” two years after first teasing it as a non-LP track; the song is now destined for S.O.S. Then last week, SZA dropped a teaser for her upcoming new album that featured morse code that spelled out, appropriately, “S-O-S.”
Last month, SZA spoke to Complex about her album-making progress, saying it was “all over the place” but that she didn’t feel rushed to release it.
“I have no idea what it sounds like to anybody else,” she said. “I really don’t know. It’s so bizarre. It’s weird that I can’t put my finger on it. It’s a little bit of everything. It’s a little aggressive.”
She added, “Some parts are incredibly soft. Some of them are ballads. I don’t know. It’s all over the place. It’s just where my heart is.”