Rina’s evolution from Sawayama to today is a big one, with another 13 songs of pure perfection that actually make you feel the emotion behind each song.
For this new album we got five singles which all showed off the absolutely massive range she put into this project, and also how she has perfectly catered to her audience. From ‘This Hell’ to ‘Hurricanes’ we see the different aspects of her life, from such vulnerable places as her childhood and her relationship with her mother.
She starts off the album with ‘Minor Feelings’ which, as said by the artist herself, was meant to be an interlude for the album. Instead, it’s something that grew into the perfect song to drag us into the album: it describes the simplicity of childhood, and how all those feelings no longer feel just minor to her.
Miss Slaywayma doesn’t let us have any moment to be sad, though, driving straight into the titular ‘Hold The Girl’ and new queer power anthem ‘This Hell’. For the former we are told to love the you that was forced to be left behind. This is then juxtaposed by the fierce lyrics of the latter: Sawayama insists that we shouldn’t be afraid to be ourselves in any respect, and should just throw a party because in the end “we're burning up together”.
These tracks are then followed by a loving heartfelt ‘letter’ to the artist's mother, thanking her for being there through thick and thin and asking her to be proud of where the singer is now. ‘Forgiveness’ describes the pain we inflict on ourselves in order to fit in, to get ahead in life, but how fragile it can be when everything creeps up after we believe it's been dealt with.
If there’s one thing Rina did wrong with this album, it was to not make ‘Frankenstein’ a single. This is a song that not only makes you go feral when played, but also manages to just itch that spot inside your head that you didn’t know existed. We are then treated to a heavenly, somewhat acoustic, bridge in ‘Hurricanes’ that gives you goosebumps all over from the lyrical incredibleness she has created.
Rina rounds off the album with the three most emotional songs from Hold The Girl. The three minute masterpiece that is ‘Send My Love To John’ starts this off, a love letter to her gay fans that never got the closure or apologies they needed from their parents. Like a ghostly melodic tune, ‘Phantom’ continues the sombre mood, with Mother Rina telling us to not let go of our younger selves - the one that started to fade away like a shadow we can’t quite reach - but to embrace them because we are one and the same.
Sadly, this forty five minute masterpiece did have to end. It’s in style, though, with what Rina’s termed “a peak mother song”. ‘To Be Alive’ explains the true feeling of managing to get through a traumatic event and finally realising how lucky you are to be where you are. Her Pixels cannot wait to see what she comes up with next, along with her sophomore UK/IE tour starting later this year.
With additional credit to Zach Seoudy.
Cover image courtesy of Michael Peltier via Unsplash. Image licence can be found here.