Over a year since her album SOS dropped, SZA has fans excited for new music yet again. On Dec. 10, SZA sent out a slew of Instagram posts of what could be six versions of cover art for her new project LANA, and fans have been freaking out ever since. Especially since they might know when LANA actually comes out.
If your mind went straight to a Lana Del Rey collaboration album, I’m sorry to tell you that that’s not the case. In fact, LANA is a nod to SZA’s birth name. The singer-songwriter, whose real name is Solána Rowe, was nicknamed Lana after she couldn’t afford to have her entire name tattooed. SZA’s been teasing new music since September when she revealed the name of her upcoming album at a live show. So, it only made sense to make the announcement a couple of days after SOS’s first anniversary.
Although there is no confirmed release date, she posted three photos wearing a jersey with the number “15” on it, leading to further speculation that we might have new SZA music as early as Dec. 15. This is a massive leap from the five-year hiatus between CTRL and SOS.
In an interview with Variety, she claimed that LANA was meant to be a deluxe album version of SOS. “It was gonna be [SOS] outtakes and some new songs, but it’s become more than I expected,” she said. She then went on to say that LANA has become its own album despite such a short time frame between projects. She wants to strike a balance between “consistent” and “carefree” when it comes to her music and this album announcement shows exactly that.
Speaking of SOS, a couple of hours before her Instagram dump, SZA celebrated the one-year anniversary of SOS in an Instagram post, thanking the project for changing her life. “I haven’t processed this year AT ALL cause it’s still happening .. this is beyond my wildest dreams. I never imagined we’d accomplish a fraction of the accolades that came from this .. it often doesn’t feel real and it’s funny cause I swore I’d know what to do if it ever happened,“ she writes. She then continues to thank her team, family, ancestors, and fans for the success of this transformative album. And I don’t blame her for being so starstruck by her own success! She has nine nominations including Album of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for the 66th annual Grammys.
Her fans are right there with her, as they’ve been buzzing since the announcement, ecstatic that they don’t have to wait another five years for a new release.
Some fans are going absolutely feral over this announcement.
And can we just talk about these album covers?
I mean, even the sad girls are excited af!
So, I don’t know about you, but I know what I’ll be doing the second the clock hits midnight on Dec. 15.