Hold the Girl

by Rina Sawayama

Overview

Hitting while the iron was hot, Japanese-English pop star Rina Sawayama made a quick turnaround after 2020's breakthrough Sawayama thrust her to the forefront of the pop scene, refining her vision and making leaps in artistic maturity with Hold the Girl. Like similar moves by contemporaries Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish, Sawayama's drastic growth between albums -- both in sonics and emotional awareness -- is a thrill to behold. Shooting for the rafters straightaway, "Hold the Girl" launches listeners into this world without boundaries where swelling strings, a skittering beat, country-inspired twang, and a massive club chorus somehow sound like they always belonged together. Riding that energy, Sawayama drops listeners into "This Hell," an '80s-leaning gem inspired by Shania Twain that could have been a Gaga track, singalong chorus, electric guitar solo, and all. "Catch Me in the Air" -- are those seagulls and Titanic-esque flute flutterings? -- channels the Corrs and breezy Y2K-era guitar pop, flying through the clouds atop Sawayama's vocal acrobatics. "Hurricanes" takes that formula and adds a wall of guitar on a towering empowerment anthem fit for early-2000s Kelly Clarkson. The chest-pounding power ballad "Forgiveness" pushes her singing to stadium-worthy levels before the album swerves into darker territory on a quartet of standouts. The tortured "Holy" slowly percolates into a blissful techno-house anthem that finds Sawayama rising above darkness and disillusionment, declaring, "I was innocent when you said I was evil/I took your stones and I built a cathedral." Then, the caustic, industrial-lite "Your Age" puts Nine Inch Nails' anger and frustration through the grinder before the cacophonous "Imagining" fuses PVRIS' alterna-synth attack and Charli XCX's future-pop sheen with urgent alt-rock riffs and '90s house beats. After the skittering "Frankenstein" begs for relief from self-loathing and societal pressure, Sawayama allows a breather with the tender acoustic ditty "Send My Love to John" and the sweeping "Phantom," an autobiographical confessional that is as relatable as it is moving. This is one of those albums where each of the vastly different songs could be a hit and, no matter how many times it's been spun, a moment of pause is needed to fully absorb just how good it really is. Besting the already star-making Sawayama, the triumphant Hold the Girl is the sound of an artist taking their rightful place on the pop throne. Sawayama was born for this. ~ Neil Z. Yeung

Product Details

Release Date:	09/15/2023
Label:	Dirty Hit
UPC:	5060257963706
Rank:	26989

Tracks

1. Minor Feelings
2. Hold the Girl
3. This Hell
4. Catch Me in the Air
5. Forgiveness
6. Holy (Til You Let Me Go)
7. Your Age
8. Imagining
9. Frankenstein
10. Hurricanes
11. Send My Love to John
12. Phantom
13. To Be Alive

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rina Sawayama   Primary Artist
Amaarae   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Jonathan Gilmore   Engineer,Additional Production
Dan Grech-Marguerat   Mixing
Marcus Andersson   Composer,Producer
Stuart Price   Mixing,Composer,Producer
Paul Epworth   Composer,Producer
Chris Fraser   A&R
Tim Rowkins   Mixing
Nate Campany   Composer
Robin Schmidt   Mastering
Jonny Lattimer   Composer
Joseph Rodgers   Engineer
Manon Grandjean   Mixing
Clarence Clarity   Composer,Producer
Geoff Swan   Mixing
Lauren Aquilina   Composer,Producer
Oscar Scheller   Composer
Cameron Gower-Poole   Engineer,Vocal Producer
Samuel Burgess-Johnson   Design
Riley Macintyre   Engineer
Rich Cooper   Composer
Thurstan Redding   Photography
Grace Barker   Composer
Rina Sawayama   Composer,Producer
Chester Lockhart   Design,Creative Director
Chris Lyon   Composer
Barney Lister   Composer,Producer
Adam Crisp   Composer
Evie Clark-Yospa   Engineer
Amaarae   Composer
For Those I Love   Producer
Vic Jamieson   Composer
Colette Goodfellow   A&R
Will Frost   Management
Caspar Harvey   Assistant Management