Just days away from the release of her sophomore album, Hold The Girl, Rina Sawayama has shared an electrifying new song. On her latest, “Hurricanes,” Sawayama channels her upper register as she thrives in her personal chaos.
“April showers finally making way for warmer weather / But yet I still feel the same / Doing yoga just to feel untethered / But my mind keeps running away,” she sings in the first verse, as the song progresses into electric guitar riffs and energetic drum loops.
Later in the song, she beautifully articulates the feelings of being hard on herself and the emotional and mental aftermath of that “Always wanted to be best at everything / Even when it brings out the worst in myself / So I create a storm and bury it deep, hiding the key / in plain sight just in case I need help.”
In a recent interview with Fader, Sawayama shared that while she tried to write songs for Hold The Girl outside of her perspective, she felt too inspired by the world around her.
“I’d love to go from a more generic perspective next time, because the psychological giving when you write a record that’s so personal is quite a lot,” Sawayama said. “I was really inspired by how Taylor Swift was able to write outside of her perspective for Folklore. It was something I hadn’t thought about as much until lockdown, when I was like, ‘Oh God, how am I gonna get inspiration? Nothing’s happening to me!’ But actually, if you look around, there are so many stories waiting to be told.”
Check out “Hurricanes” above.
Hold The Girl is out 9/16 via Dirty Hit. Pre-save it here.