The multi-genre musician teamed up with the SOS singer for the reflective new track
Fresh off two new tracks with Drake and Justin Bieber, SZA recently guested on genre-bending performer Jean Dawson’s new song “No Szns.” The stirring single is driven by grungy guitar and reflective singing by the duo. They are both the song’s only writers, though it was produced by Dawson and a handful of other musicians. Towards the track’s end, they share the chorus: “In the spring, you can’t hear a thing all the birds and bees/Nobody thinks/In the summertime people off the brink/In California, we ain’t got no seasons, it’s all the same to me.”
Dawson tells Rolling Stone, “I made this song like I’ve made the rest of my songs: The song poses a question then answers that question upon completion. This song allowed me to ask myself what I’m afraid of in my own physical voice and what it is I have to say to anyone that deems my music worth listening to.”
“I then answered that question with the nature of my desire to hide from myself to speak in riddles so my perspectives aren’t challenged,” he continued. “They are incomplete or incoherent expressions to allow me to be uncomfortably straightforward while subverting its own or my own implied profundity. The song itself is simple in my mind.”
He also reflected on learning from his collaborator, adding, “Working with SZA helped me understand how one thing can be communicated multiple ways without the idea collapsing on itself with the weight of how complex the message could be. The way she communicates is profound and honest. She is the songbird of our generation and I love her to death.”
In 2021, SZA told Billboard she had become a big fan of Dawson, who’s music touches on rock, country, hip-hop, and more. “I love Jean Dawson,” she said. “Go look at his music video, it has like a shit ton of views. It’s on YouTube. He’s Black, but it’s also like some punk shit. It’s tight — it’s super tight.” She would end up calling on Dawson’s frequent visual collaborator, Bradley J. Calder, to direct music videos for SOS, including “PSA,” “Nobody Gets Me,” and “Snooze.”