Consequence Song of the Week highlights the latest and greatest new tracks every week. Find these new favorites and more in our Spotify best songs playlist and to see other great songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify new sounds play list. This week, SZA sends it to the cosmos.
A Saturn Return only occurs once every 30 years or so: 29.5, for those focused on astrology. What SZA in particular seems to understand in his new song, “Saturn,” is that once someone lives long enough to experience their own Saturn Return, changes are likely to occur.
The song is bright and dreamy, transportive and meditative, all qualities that often come together to create a SZA track. But despite the calm atmosphere it evokes, there is a deep sadness woven into the lyrics. SZA finds himself in an existential crisis: “None of this matters,” he laments. “This can't be life.”
“Saturn” is SZA's quest to “find something worth saving.” She's sick of spending time with herself and sick of the mundanity of the headache. The Grammy winner points out that consequences never seem to reach the people who deserve them most and, instead, “the good die young and poor.”
When it all comes together, “Saturn” is a very appropriate SZA take on the many moral crises of modern life, and it's the depth here, particularly in regards to how atmospheric and immersive the song is, that reminds us of what is carved. such a unique space for her. For SZA, a journey through the stars can be as nihilistic as it is brilliant. Buckle up, because it's likely that his musical universe will continue to grow from strength to strength.
— Maria Siroky
Associate Editor
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