CTRL review - In SZA We Stan
(Reviewed by Melody Werner)
Ctrl is the 2017 studio debut R&B (ish) album by SZA (Solána Imani Rowe). Released by Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA, Ctrl was met with critical acclaim and commercial success (debuting at #3 on the Billboard 200), eventually receiving four Grammy nominations (no wins, because the Grammy's do suck like that). Apparently, she got a few big breaks writing songs for Rihanna, Beyonce, and Nicki Minaj (regardless of my opinions on this album, Cardi > Nicki. Fact.). So it's not like she came out of nowhere or anything. Like my previous vocal music review from a label's first female signee, this review is not based on a great amount of expertise with this kind of music and I got recommended this by theneedledrop. And, like Fever, Ctrl is another damn good album I wished I'd listened to sooner.
Ctrl is a soulful and wonderful album to listen to. The kinda album that's super easy to chill to. SZA's vocals are buttery smooth and often blissful, but still feel sincere and passionate. It's wonderful stuff. Hell, there's some moments where they get downright angelic sounding (particularly on "20 Something"). That's not to say, though, that this album has no teeth to it or anything of the sort. "Doves in the Wind" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) seems like the whole point of the song was to try saying pussy more times than any other song on record and to play it all off in SZA's usual chill mode. Aside from a few funny lines here and there though, it definitely feels like one of the weaker songs in the bunch. Not the kind that I'd come back to when I'm not listening to the whole album. I mean, it's not repugnant or terrible, just not super interesting or great. The stronger songs on the album remain the ones where SZA has her heart on her sleeve, like "Broken Clocks," "20 Something," "Garden (Say It Like Dat)," "Supermodel," "Normal Girl," "Prom," and "Drew Barrymore.' They have such evident passion and grooves to them, they're the high points of the album by far.
Ctrl is the 2017 studio debut R&B (ish) album by SZA (Solána Imani Rowe). Released by Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA, Ctrl was met with critical acclaim and commercial success (debuting at #3 on the Billboard 200), eventually receiving four Grammy nominations (no wins, because the Grammy's do suck like that). Apparently, she got a few big breaks writing songs for Rihanna, Beyonce, and Nicki Minaj (regardless of my opinions on this album, Cardi > Nicki. Fact.). So it's not like she came out of nowhere or anything. Like my previous vocal music review from a label's first female signee, this review is not based on a great amount of expertise with this kind of music and I got recommended this by theneedledrop. And, like Fever, Ctrl is another damn good album I wished I'd listened to sooner.
Ctrl is a soulful and wonderful album to listen to. The kinda album that's super easy to chill to. SZA's vocals are buttery smooth and often blissful, but still feel sincere and passionate. It's wonderful stuff. Hell, there's some moments where they get downright angelic sounding (particularly on "20 Something"). That's not to say, though, that this album has no teeth to it or anything of the sort. "Doves in the Wind" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) seems like the whole point of the song was to try saying pussy more times than any other song on record and to play it all off in SZA's usual chill mode. Aside from a few funny lines here and there though, it definitely feels like one of the weaker songs in the bunch. Not the kind that I'd come back to when I'm not listening to the whole album. I mean, it's not repugnant or terrible, just not super interesting or great. The stronger songs on the album remain the ones where SZA has her heart on her sleeve, like "Broken Clocks," "20 Something," "Garden (Say It Like Dat)," "Supermodel," "Normal Girl," "Prom," and "Drew Barrymore.' They have such evident passion and grooves to them, they're the high points of the album by far.
The features here are mostly take it or leave it. I've heard loads of good stuff about Kendrick, but I wasn't too into his passage on DitW (his solo stuff is probably much better, I'll try that at some point). Travis Scott and James Fauntleroy don't leave much of an impression on their respective features. Isaiah Rashad on "Pretty Little Birds" has the best feature of the bunch handily in my opinion, as it gels with the rest of the song in this great way that I don't think any of the others do nearly as well. The lyrics on the album (now's a good time to mention that SZA co-writes all of her songs on this) are interesting. Then you have the instrumentals, which are absolutely fantastic. "Anything" easily has the best instrumentals, helping to make it one of the grooviest tracks on the entire project. "20 Something" (this is the last time I'm going to mention 20 Something, I promise) also has some phenomenal acoustics to it. "Drew Barrymore" also these moving instrumentals to them, which help to make this one helluvan' instant classic of a song (makes sense, as this was the lead single for the album). A few tracks feature these nice phone messages at the beginning/ending, and I always love seeing those in music. The beat on "Prom" is excellent and absorbing. Oh, and "The Weekend" has some incredibly tuneful instrumentals to it. Yeah, yeah--I'm gushing. This album just has so much good stuff to talk about with it. And I'm missing plenty in this review. They bring such authenticity whenever they're used.
Ctrl is a serene and affecting album, that's incredibly easy to get into. I'll definitely recommend this to anyone, even if they're not so into SZA's strange and amazing brand of R&B. I would say that, even if it's unfair to compare the two albums (much of music fandom is too obsessed with measuring women artists against other women, as if there can only be one woman musician inhabiting a certain space (ex. Beyonce/Rihanna, Cardi B/Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish/Lorde); plus these two albums are in many ways incomparable on a foundational level), this album doesn't hit as many out of this world high points as Fever does but it also has a more solid ratio of winners to relative clunkers, as the slight misses on this album are a cut above Fever's weaker tunes. The more I think about this album, the more I want to give it an even higher rating, but I think I'll rush this review out to prevent me from doing something crazy and giving it a 10 or something, by giving it a 9/10. Though there are some tracks in here that are pretty perfect.
Fantastic
Summary:
Ctrl mesmerizes with its dreamy, potent, and groovy tunes. Can't wait til SZA's next album.
(wait a sec, it's not actually too late to give it a 10/10... :])
(wait a sec, it's not actually too late to give it a 10/10... :])
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