Top Dawg Entertainment is a label known for its keen eye for legendary talent, playing host to hip-hop giants such as Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy-Q. R&B superstar SZA plays a pivotal role in the label’s success, providing it with an angelic voice capable of creating two studio albums filled with smash hits. Despite this success, getting more content from the fabled R&B star has seemed to be a fruitless effort. While this closing of the content faucet may be a label decision made due to the pandemic, fans of the studio and SZA are up in arms about the situation. 

Though her release schedule may leave much to be desired, any content from SZA has proven to be a blessing in these past months. “Good Days” proves that all good things come to those who wait (except for another Frank Ocean album). Following the dripping smoothness of her R&B track “Hit Different” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, “Good Days” takes a mature step back from the excess and glamour to let SZA lament about how hard it is to find the light between the black bars these days.

SZA slowly draws us into her colorful meadow patch with a series of echoey guitar strings and descending pop synths, creating a mystical breeze in her nostalgic soundscape. The strings grow louder and more intentional as SZA instructs the audience to take a breath of fresh air with her in this beautiful escape from reality:

“Good day in my mind, safe to take a step out/

Get some air now, let yo edge out”

SZA is accompanied by the disjointed whispers of Jacob Collier as she waltzes through her own feelings of self-doubt. Flickering drums and adlibs sparkle around her encompassing voice as she delves into her own psyche: 

“Tell me I’m not my fears, my limitations/

I disappear if you let me”

SZA disappears from the mix, letting the plucking percussion and shining synths take over as she mulls over her next words. The song waits with bated breath for her to return, with whimpering piano strikes beckoning her to return as the synths wisp between the ears like a gale of wind. An enchanted flute breaks up the disturbance, bouncing between the ears as the song moves into a soaring chorus from Jacob Collier, who confesses to feelings of obsessive self-doubt:

“You’ve been making me feel like I’m/

Always in my mind, always in my mind, mind”

While it’s certainly not 14 songs stretched out over a 49-minute project, “Good Days” is a blissful single filled with wanderlust and heartache. SZA proves once more why her previous projects such as CTRL still remain a dominant force in the realm of R&B, pop and soul. She provides an unexpected sound with a voice and range few can comprehend. In the three long years it’s been since her last major project, SZA has aged like a fine wine. Her skills and talent only multiply exponentially with each single that is released. When we will receive another project from her may be a mystery, but whether or not it will be fantastic requires a lot less speculation.