Review: SZA teases new bug themed album era at London’s BST Hyde Park

It’s Saturday June 29 and SZA just kicked off BST Hyde Park’s 2024 festival by teasing her next album and its aesthetic is… bugs and nature.

While we’ve all come to know SZA for her cool girl vibes and iconic oversized sports jersey looks, the singer’s next musical project appears to be more nature-inspired, with her new merchandise featuring an array of insect designs.

Taking to BST Hyde Park’s Great Oak stage, the grandstand’s famous stump acted as the perfect background for SZA’s set as she shared a glimpse into the new record’s aesthetic with London fans. 

Starting in the depths of a cave, SZA transformed the performance space into an underground cavity as stalactites lined the top of the stage while upward-growing mounds were scattered around the bottom. The large screens echoed the visuals as the audience was taken through the layers of the earth before arriving in the cave setting displayed on stage. 

Acting as a shining light in the dark underground hollow, SZA started her show by rising from a platform from the centre of the stage and was beaming as she opened with the track PSA.

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While she was over 15 minutes later than expected, she well and truly made up for it with her captivating stage presence and dynamic choreography as she showed her vision for her new music era.

Performing hits from across her music career SZA paired it with the new album aesthetics effortlessly as fans got excited for what’s to come while singing along to the catchy tracks Kill Bill and Good Days among others.

From singing while straddling a large-scale ant figure to performing while perched on an old tree trunk, SZA remained dedicated throughout her 90-minute set as she sang song after song back to back. 

It wasn’t until the end of her performance that she actually opened up to fans for a brief moment, where she admitted it was her first time doing this set.

While it may have only been the debut of the new show format, I’m certainly buzzing to see how the nature theme links to SZA’s new music. 

SZA’s BST Hyde Park setlist

• PSA 
• Love Galore
• Broken Clocks
• All The Stars
• Prom 
• Garden
• Drew Barrymore
• F2F
• Forgiveness
• Ghost In The Machine
• Blind
• Shirt
• Kiss Me More
• I Hate U 
• Kill Bill
• Low 
• Supermodel
• Open Arms
• Nobody Gets Me
• Normal Girl
• Saturn
• Rich Baby Daddy
• The Weekend
• Good Days
• 20 Something