She may have 70 million monthly streams, she may be one of the biggest artists on the planet, but SZA was still an odd choice to close the main stage at Glastonbury 2024.
How many songs of hers could the average festivalgoer sing along to? Big hit Kill Bill, perhaps, or the Kendrick Lamar duet All the Stars from the Black Panther soundtrack, but her music just hasn’t permeated into the British consciousness in the same way as, say, fellow 2024 headliners Coldplay, which was displayed in the sparseness of the crowd.
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With only two albums bringing touches of jazz, indie rock and plenty else into an essential template of mid-tempo R&B, there didn’t seem enough here to justify the spot. And so it proved.
Born Solana Imami Rowe in Missouri 34 years ago, SZA was all set to be a marine biologist before stardom intervened. Taking influence from everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Bjork, she has developed a laidback style of her own, which clearly works brilliantly for streaming but not so brilliantly when everyone wants one last party before going back to reality.
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Nonetheless, the opening was promising: a set like a stalactite-laden cave, SZA appearing on a platform dressed like a Disney warrior princess, plenty of vocal gymnastics, lots of sexy dancing, and in Broken Clocks a complex blend of R&B, rock and musical theatre. She performed Garden (Say It Like Dat), a power ballad with added squealing guitar, on top of a giant grasshopper. That was something.
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All of it felt like some sort of big production high concept, if without much context. And there good songs buried in it all. Drew Barrymore was a tender love song with real feeling; Prom was fun, chirpy pop, and Forgiveless was syrupy R&B at its best. Kill Bill, complete with sword wielding dancers, was an unquestionable highlight.
But with no musicians in view beyond a solitary guitarist, and Kendrick Lamar only appearing in recorded form on All the Stars, it was very pre-packaged, with little to hold the interest for all but the most ardent fans.
SZA also sounded like she was singing into a fan while someone was doing the hoovering nearby. Things improved around the halfway mark and a shortened cover of Prince’s Kiss, but for the first half her singing was muddied by its amplification. And there was nothing here that really connected to the festival.
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What was happening on screens was frequently different from what was happening on stage, suggesting this was tailored for television as much as the crowd. It belonged more to a faceless stadium than Britain’s most beloved festival, like a big American act had rolled in without any thought of having to engage with a Glastonbury audience. SZA is a major talent, but this was a misstep.
★★✰✰✰
