Where The Hell Have You Been SZA?
As we wait patiently for the TDE clan to get their act together, SZA gives us some digital goodies to hold us over, perhaps serving as a little apology for the delay of her debut album, ‘CTRL’.
Firstly, we get szactrl.com – an interactive site wherein we get to follow a variety of instructions before we can reach the main menu. After typing out ‘ctrl’, your keyboard turns into a sort of makeshift MPC; all of your keys correspond to some musical note, and hitting them causes a series of photos and doodles to appear on your screen.
This kept me entertained for a while, hoping that, amongst the rather cryptic slew of pictures – I might find the actual release date for SZA’s album. Alas – I did not. Anyway, once I had completed this task, I was greeted with a mini-documentary at the main menu: ‘WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN: road to CTRL’ (funny name on quite a few levels). The documentary serves as a montage of sorts, showcasing clips of SZA recording, performing and reflecting – all backed with pensive, acoustic guitar-driven cuts that will likely feature on the album. It ends up being a sort of kaleidoscopic window into SZA’s pre-drop life; gentle conversations are intercut with obscure filtered visuals, creating a hazy, glitchy (and rather adorable) story.
Despite the delays, I believe watching this documentary will end up being rather important for connecting with ‘CTRL’ – and SZA for that matter – on a more personal level. So, if the album’s just around the corner – I think the delay will have been worth it.
