RINA SAWAYAMA has announced details of her next album, alongside euphoric new single ‘This Hell’.
‘Hold The Girl’ – the follow-up to her 2020 debut – will arrive on 2nd September via Dirty Hit.
Produced by Paul Epworth, the song is a glam, country-inspired pop banger. Packing in references to Britney, Princess Dianna, Whitney and Shania Twain, it’s a kiss off to haters and toxic paparazzi culture – delivered against glam-rock riffs and jubilant pop-meets-country melodies. Above all though, it’s a celebration of community in the face of hardship.
“I had so much fun writing ‘This Hell,’ said Sawayama. “The past couple of years I’ve been listening to lots of female country singers and wanted to write a euphoric and tongue in cheek country pop song. Country music at its core to me represents comfort, brilliant storytelling and authentic expression of the writer’s reality. I put in as many iconic pop culture moments as I can, but the song is more than that.”
She added: “It’s an important song for me given the human rights that are being taken away from minorities at a rapid rate in the name of traditional religious beliefs, more specifically I was thinking about the rights being taken away from the LGBTQ community when I wrote this song. When the world tells us we don’t deserve love and protection, we have no choice but to give love and protection to each other. This Hell is better with you.”
A triumphant start to a thrilling new era, check it out below.
