As if the announcement of her very anticipated sophomore album wasn’t enough, a sneak peek into the tracklist of SZA’s S.O.S. made fans even more excited for the singer’s comeback on Dec. 9. That is because, in addition to being a lengthy project — with 23 tracks in total — the album has features from artists like Don Toliver and Travis Scott and teases the surprising appearance of fan-favorite singer Phoebe Bridgers on the song “Ghosts In The Machine.”
SZA’s first extended project since her acclaimed debut with Ctrl, released in 2017, S.O.S. includes the hits “Good Days,” “I Hate U,” and “Shirt,” which she promoted throughout the last year. With an album cover reportedly inspired by the iconic picture of Princess Diana overlooking the ocean, the singer has been posting snippets of the tracks on Instagram, highlighting stripped-back acoustic moments and her sentimental verses. But while all of the snippets sound amazing, it’s her collab with Bridges that has people talking the most.
Despite not being spoiled anywhere yet, “Ghosts In The Machine” has already been met with approval from both Bridgers’ and SZA’s listeners. “Response to having Phoebe on the albums been pretty positive lol,” joked SZA in a tweet, followed by a screen recording of a voice memo screaming Phoebe’s name over and over.
“We getting fed,” replied a user with a video of SZA eating, while others claimed “Sza featuring Phoebe Bridgers is jus absurd enough to work” and that the track is set to be one of 2022’s saddest.
Known for her raw songwriting and dreamy indie rock, Bridgers has released successful albums like Stranger In The Alps and Punisher, and was also nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy Award in 2021. Boasting heartbreaking and widely popular tracks like “Motion Sickness” and “Scott Street” in her discography, how Bridger’s own personal style will match with SZA’s also tender music has been a topic of debate.
Despite being unexpected, “SZA featuring Phoebe Bridgers is so smart. They’re actually such similar artists in different fonts,” one fan chimed in. As they’re both part of the sad girl movement, listeners think they’ll be met with sensitive lyrics, harmonic vocals and soothing acoustics upon the release of “Ghosts in the Machine.” Some can help but be worried, though, after Lana Del Rey’s (extremely) brief feature on Taylor Swift’s “Snow On The Beach”: “if sza ft phoebe bridgers is anything like snow on the beach… we are going to have a PROBLEM,” one fan wrote.
One answer is for certain, though — hot girls will go through it.