Hold The Girl by Rina Sawayama | Album Review
Reviewing the Japanese-British artist’s second studio album
Model, actress, musician — what can’t Rina Sawayama do? With Sawayama releasing her second studio album, Hold The Girl, we hear a deeper repertoire that is used for an emotional introspection. This album is my introduction to this artist and its almost refreshing to hear an enthusiastic range of music that is both captivating and dance-worthy. Taking only a peek at her previous album in SAWAYAMA, the difference is immediately clear: she strays away from a pop rock into a form of hyperpop, cleans up some vocal inconsistencies, and overall creates a more captivating experience. Sawayama shifts from a Gwen Stefani sort of style and, as her feature may hint towards, a Charlie XCX-esque pop — especially reminiscent of Crash.
Sawayama opens with the intensely emotional “Minor Feelings” that builds to a chilling crescendo that reveals the overwhelming nature of feelings that are starting to bubble and overflow as a result of being forced to accept the discomfort of her surroundings. The title, according to Genius, comes from a book of the same name by Cathy Park Hong who speaks on the “marginalization of the Asian American experience.” This sets the stage for and becomes the theme of the album. This is probably the pinnacle of vocal performance seen on Hold The Girl.
“Hold The Girl”, the titular track, is probably the most addicting as it travels between a nostalgic pop of the 70’s and 80’s to a modern soul pop track, seen mostly in the chorus that opens the track. That chorus is followed by a very modern form of pop production that is eerily similar to the 2010’s era. It’s in the latter half of the song we see that subtle disco pop that aptly complements the artists high-flying vocals. In a track inspecting her inner child, Sawayama reminds herself hold onto that once lost innocence — to comfort herself in her growth as a person.
One of my complaints about this album is that it ranges from soaring and beautiful to a manufactured and watered down pop product that we’ve come to see a little too often, especially on the radio. It reminds me of both department store music and a specific scene of a dystopian dance marathon where they play the song over and over again. Songs like “This Hell” and “Hurricanes” are prime examples. The vocal ability is so obvious, so why waste it on generic choruses and melodies? This is more a production fault than anything. Seeing that flying choruses — that is fleeting on this album — like we see with artist like Adele, would put a cherry on top of even the weaker songs.
Other songs that don’t necessarily suffer that fate do have their caveats. “Catch Me In The Air” has amazing and grounding verses, but the chorus is so unbelievably generic, it’s honestly annoying. The message is great and endearing as Sawayama tackles the relationship between mother’s and daughters — which can be lethal — but, this song would’ve benefitted from slowing down and capturing that love more succinctly. She happens to do this in the very next song in “Forgiveness” — a much more approachable listen.
Consistency is the word for this album. I would love to see a commitment to genre and a consistent track list with no skips. The beautiful verses should be supported by choruses that don’t sound like they were made in lab and sprinkled throughout the tracks. I believe that Sawayama is still finding the genre she feels most comfortable in, and that’s okay, it may be the last step in a process of creating her best work — which I believe is still yet to come. Finding that niche, that genre she fits in most, will be so important to her development as an artist.
I want to put this album in an upper-echelon in albums released this year, but it just isn’t feasible. Similar to the critiques I had of Denzel Curry’s, Melt My Eyez, See Your Future, it lacks that umph that puts other projects released this year above it. This no hate to either of those albums either because I really like a large portion of both. It’s as simple as this, they are each 2–3 tracks from ranking closer to 9’s, but that’s what separates the elite artist from the rest. Will they be able to shore up on their next work to create masterpieces?
Ranking: 7.7/10
Favorite Tracks: Minor Feelings, Frankenstein, Hold The Girl
