SZA‘s vault is fairly tight – until yesterday she hadn’t released any new music since April – but sometimes it swings open. Her two latest offerings are “Julia” and “Teen Spirit.” The former features the subdued singer’s tender voice mingling with springy synths and enchanted drums as she poses rhetorical questions about love. The song is clearly reminiscent of the 80’s (in fact, it’s tagged as “80’s” on her Soundcloud), but the beat switches up toward the end of the song and SZA takes us forward in time.

“Teen Spirit” was interestingly uploaded to Top Dawg Entertainment‘s Soundcloud stream and features a more penetrating instrumental and stronger vocals than “Julia.” SZA uses her voice to drift deeper into herself as she pushes away a stranger (or at least someone she wants to be a stranger). There’s no story in the song, but that’s what makes it work. SZA is able to evoke a pure affect. Listen to the songs below…

Update: And give SZA a congrats: she just got signed to TDE.

#HiiiPoWeR family, please welcome our newest signee, SZA [@justsza] http://t.co/n0843vMmnB #TDE

— TopDawgEnt (@TopDawgEnt) August 15, 2013

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