SZA's new album LANA: Everything we know so far

SZA is staying busy. The R&B superstar is still riding out the success of her 2022 album SOS, which earned her nine Grammy nominations, but she's decided to release another album before the end of the year.

SZA announced the album in August, but she's shed more light on the album's title, theme, and overall importance within her growing discography in the past few weeks. She also noted how it has changed shape throughout the year, and turned into its "own" thing without her even realizing it.

Here's what you need to know about LANA:

SZA's new album will consist of B-sides from SOS

SZA recorded lots of music during the SOS sessions, and despite releasing a deluxe version of the album with two bonus tracks, there's a lot more than the singer wants to put out. LANA is going to be a mixture of SOS B-sides with new material that's been recorded in the past few months.

The singer explained the initial concept, and the inspiration behind the title, to Variety Magazine:

""It’s outtakes and new stuff, too — I added a couple of songs. It’s like a whole new project. It’s called LANA — my name but, it’s the first tattoo that I ever got, when I was 13. It was 10 bucks a letter and I only had 40, so that that became my nickname for no reason. LANA is really just the B-side of SOS.”"

LANA will include fan favorite songs that have been teased online

SZA estimated that LANA will have between 7-10 songs, and that one of them will be the fan favorite "Joni." The song was leaked back in 2021, and is intended to be a tribute to folk singer Joni Mitchell.

SZA expressed frustration at having "Joni" come out before it was completed, but she maintains that the album version will be different enough to justify its inclusion. She also teased that the new "Joni" will include a guest feature.

Other LANA songs that have been previewed/teased by SZA in concert include:

- "Drivin'"

- "Saturn"

- "Boy from South Detroit"

- "DTM"

- "PSA"

It's worth noting that the titles associated with these songs have been derived from their respective lyrics, and may have different titles when they're officially released.

LANA will be a 'soft' release in comparison to SOS

SZA Performs At Rogers Arena | Andrew Chin/GettyImages

SZA told Variety that she was emboldened to release LANA so soon after SOS because she felt like the two albums have contradictory sounds. She noted that SOS has lots of "screaming points", and that LANA is much softer by comparison.

""I had made all my screaming points [on SOS], and I just wanted to glide and not think [too much], and just get out of my own head. I was so happy to say some s**t that didn’t mean a f**king thing... It’s definitely turning it into its own album.""

LANA has a rumored release date (and it's soon)

While a proper release date has yet to be confirmed, there is a strong belief that LANA will drop on December 15, 2023.

SZA has said that she plans to release the album before the end of the year, and a photoshoot of the singer wearing a jersey with the number "15" has fans convinced that Friday is the day. Only time will tell.

We'll provide more details on the album's release as they're made available.