Rina Sawayama just wrapped up her tour with three NYC shows, the final show of which she closed out by teasing something new on the way, with signs reading "Rina Is Going To Hell." She's now announced her sophomore album, Hold The Girl, due out September 2 via Dirty Hit. It's the follow up to 2020's SAWAYAMA, and she made it with regular collaborators Clarence Clarity and Lauren Aquilina, as well as Paul Epworth and Marcus Andersson. See the cover art below.
She's also shared the first single, "This Hell," an upbeat pop track with a little country twang. "I had so much fun writing 'This Hell,'" Rina says. "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’ve been dreaming of working with Paul Epworth my entire career so I knew it was meant to be when we finished this song in a day. I put in as many iconic pop culture moments as I can, but the song is more than that.”
"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," Rina continues. "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." Hear it below.
Rina has tour dates in Europe, the UK, and Japan coming up this summer and fall. See all dates below. Ahead of those, she'll perform "This Hell" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday night (5/19).
Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl
RINA SAWAYAMA: 2022 TOUR 6/1 - Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Festival 6/2 - Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Festival 6/10 - Porto, Portugal @ Primavera Festival 6/26 - Dublin, Ireland @ Mother Pride Block Party 7/22 - Southwold, England @ Latitude Festival 8/5 - Katowice, Poland @ OFF Festival 8/20 - Osaka, Japan @ Summer Sonic Osaka 8/21 - Tokyo, Japan @ Summersonic Festival 9/3 - Stradbally, Republic of Ireland @ Electric Picnic 10/12 - Glasgow, Scotland @ SWG3 10/13 - Glasgow, Scotland @ SWG3 10/15 - Dublin, Republic of Ireland @ Olympia Theatre 10/18 - Nottingham, England @ Rock City 10/20- Manchester, England @ Manchester Academy 10/21 - Birmingham, England @ O2 Academy Birmingham 10/23 - Brighton, East Sussex, England @ Brighton Dome 10/26 - London, England @ O2 Academy Brixton
