Rina Sawayama
Hold the Girl

Of Japanese origin but naturalized English, Rina Sawayama has established herself for a few years now as one of the most interesting faces of that chart pop that isn't afraid to flirt with the more indie and chic environments of the British scene. Here, the writing of pieces potentially suitable for radios and charts is accompanied by a constant visual search and experiments that try to bring into the aforementioned charts sonic blends and content that normally tend to keep away. The debut a couple of years ago, in this sense, is its perfect manifesto: dance, pop, and R&B bases spiced with metal and orchestral inserts intertwine with reflections on self-perception and ethnic belonging, critiques of the most relentless consumerism and anthems to sexual freedom, all with a nod to the runway and the most stylish designers.

The singer-songwriter's second album, “Hold the Girl,” from this perspective, doesn't stray much from what was previously outlined, but takes on a newfound maturity in terms of writing and mastery of the sounds used: alongside Paul Epworth and the trusty Clarence Clarity, Sawayama further refines her genre-bending, including influences from new genres for her, ready to underpin introspective and never banal lyrics. Thus, after the introduction entrusted to the guitar in “Minor Feelings,” comes the tribal percussion seasoned with the orchestra of the title track, the queer-tinted country of “This Hell” and “Send My Love to John,” the airy ride of “Catch Me in the Air,” and the goth dance imbued with industrial of “Holy (Till You Let Me Go),” not to forget bursts of hyper-pop (“Imagining” and “Frankenstein”) and the oddity of “Your Age,” which among banjo, rap, and distorted voices is as close as you can get to her debut on this album. All of this is enhanced by well-written lyrics that move skillfully between lucid self-analysis, reflections on one's sexuality, and dialogues with her younger self. It’s unfortunate then that, as with the eponymous debut, Sawayama stumbles again just shy of wrapping up an excellent album, although in this case, the faults are more circumscribed and easily identifiable: scattered throughout the tracklist, there are indeed various ballads that harken back to a melodic '90s rock that undermine its solidity; these are pieces that aim to sound heartfelt but end up coming across as merely pompous and somewhat outdated. And even if “Forgiveness,” with its deliberately off-kilter melodic movement and hard rock insertions, still proves enjoyable, the final trio of “Hurricanes,” “Phantom,” and “To Be Alive” surprisingly lack inventiveness, almost as if it were forcibly inserted into a context that's not its own.

It's a shame also because, with good level content and generally measured writing even in its excesses, Rina Sawayama is certainly not devoid of talent and interesting things to say, and she deserves credit for always keeping a firm grip on such a varied and potentially dispersive project. However, the desire for eclecticism and versatility, which clearly benefits from well-mastered sound choices, in this case, has also led to counterproductive results. From this point of view, true maturity has not yet arrived, and this must be taken into account when evaluating, while acknowledging that there is room for improvement. Nonetheless, there is disappointment for an album that could have been of a very high level but only comes so close and ultimately presents itself as merely a decent work.