Rina Sawayama has delivered the first taste of her much-anticipated second album Hold The Girl in the form of pop-country banger This Hell.
Earlier this week the Japanese-born, British-raised pop star confirmed that Hold The Girl will be released on September 2 on Dirty Hit.
One verse of the singer/songwriter's euphoric new single runs: "Don’t know why we’re here. But might as well get down and dirty. That Satan's looking thirsty. Not even he can hurt me."
“I had so much fun writing ‘This Hell,’ says Sawayama. “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 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. 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.”
Sawayama released her acclaimed debut album, Sawayama, in 2020, borrowing from her rock and metal influences on tracks like XS, STFU! and Who's Gonna Save U Now? Her cover of Enter Sandman on the Metallica-hailing The Blacklist album was one of the collection's most intriguing re-imaginings.
