Rina Sawayama talks therapy, new album, parenting and mo’ therapy with Rolling Stone

Rina Sawayama featured in Rolling Stone UK’s digital issue. And whilst this is cool, I would really like to know why Rina wasn’t on the main cover of a physical issue of the magazine. But then again, we know how Rolling Stone feels about Black people and folk of colour, no matter how much they try to act like they’re ‘diverse’.

HENNYWAY.

Rina’s getting promo. It is for a well known publication. It is something. And she’s talking more about her Sawayama follow-up Hold the Girl. Although Rina’s been talking about it for the past year, and was even performing a song off of it whilst on tour. Still. It’s promo. I’ll take it.

The video is more a cute bitesize Q&A. But the full Rolling Stone UK interview delves far more into what Rina has been up to, and her inspirations for the album. It’s definitely worth checking out in its entirety. But for you ‘TLDR’ bitches, below is a rundown of the biggest takeout’s.

• The songs on the album were spurred by Rina’s therapy sessions, which she would talk through and then start to figure what would make for good songs.

• Rina once again worked with Lauren Aquilina for Hold the Girl. ‘Who is this Lauren bitch?’ some of you ask. Lauren co-wrote “This Hell” and the Sawayama album cut “Tokyo Love Hotel”. Non Rina related songs that Lauren has co-written include Taemin’s “Criminal” and Little Mix’s “Love (Sweet Love)”.

• Rina speaks about her mother A LOT in this interview. So there’s a high likelihood that her relationship with her mother will be something which crops up on this album, or at least shapes some of the songs. Whenever Rina has performed the song “Catch Me in the Air”, she introduces it as a song the she wrote about her relationship with her mother. So that’s one song already down. Sawayama featured songs which touched on her relationship with her mother (“Paradisin’” and “Dynasty”) and she is even featured very faintly at the end of “Snakeskin”. So it makes sense that Hold the Girl would follow suit in some capacity.

• Hold the Girl has a very specific meaning, but Rina won’t reveal what it just yet. Instead wanting fans to instead interpret the album as what it means to them first. Also. Rina ain't fully ready to talk about it with anybody just yet. Therapy y’all.

• Hold the Girl will feature 13 songs, just as the original edition of Sawayama did.

• Aside from “This Hell”, three other songs confirmed for the album are “Catch Me in the Air” (which Rina had performed on her tour), the album title track “Hold the Girl” and “Frankenstein”.

• And a random thing I caught in the credits of the interview; it seems that Chester Lockheart is officially a part of Rina’s creative team!? I know he directed some of the visuals for her tour, in addition to her Hold the Girl trailer. And he was also part of a close knit group of people who were part of a feedback session when Rina was nearing completion of Sawayama. This may not mean anything to anyone. I just found it interesting. I don’t really know who Chester is outside of his proximity to Todrick Hall. I just knew him as somebody who would turn up in his music videos and occasionally appear on stage with him. But I guess he’s a creative director now. Maybe he always was.

HENNYWAY.

Hold the Girl is still a ways out. And I just hope that Rina is able to keep momentum and interest in it outside of her fanbase. Because whilst Hold the Girl is most certainly gonna be copped by Pixels and those who discovered Sawayama via YouTube algorithms, it’s everybody else that Rina needs to put onto her shit so that the needle moves, and she sells big units. Because THAT is what’s gonna get a bitch more money and bigger budgets to live her full pop star fantasy. We are all here for resourceful Rina. But we are ready for big budget, blank cheque Rina. So many of these pop girls out here are getting cheques that their talent can’t cash. Run Rina her damn money.

📰 Rina Sawayama: holding herself tight @ Rolling Stone UK

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💿 Rina reviews: This Hell | Sawayama | Rina
📀 Rina revision: Sawayama (The Random J Pop Revised Expanded Edition)
🗄️ Rina shit: That time Rina performed at Coachella | That time Rina got shafted because of racism and xenophobia | That time Rina met Hikaru Utada | That time Rina released a gay anthem and gave it an awful music video