After releasing her 2020 debut with the critically acclaimed “Sawayama,” Rena Sawayama has revealed her second album. Hold the Girl is scheduled to be released on September 2 via Dirty Hit.
In conjunction with the announcement of the new album, Rina also shared her lead single, an electric country song called “This Hell”.
“This Hell” begins with Shania Twain chanting a song while Rina whispers “Let’s go, girls” before exploding in the first stanza. Between glamorous rock clips, Rina sings eccentric references to gay pop icons with lines like: “Fuck what they did to Britney, to Lady Dee and Whitney.”
The track was co-produced by Paul Epworth (Adele, Rihanna) and “Sawayama” producer Clarence Clarity, and written by Rina along with Vixen Epworth and Lauren Aquilina (Demi Lovato, Little Mix).
The upcoming album “Hold the Girl” has been written and recorded over the past year and a half with long-term collaborators Clarity and Aquilina, as well as with the help of Epworth, Stuart Price (Dua Lipa, The Killers, Madonna) and Marcus Anderson (Demi Lovato, Ashniko). “Hold the Girl” is described as a style evolution that will blend influences from across the pop spectrum to make a bold and honest statement.
Speaking about the new song, Rina explained, “I had a lot of fun writing This Hell.” In the past two years I’ve been listening to a lot of country singers and wanted to write a cheerful, cheerful country pop song. At its core to me, country music is comfort, great storytelling, and an authentic expression of the writer’s reality. I’ve dreamed of working with Paul Epworth my entire career, so I knew it was meant to be when we finished this song in one day. It introduced as many famous pop culture moments as possible, but the song is more than that.”
She continues, “It’s an important song to me given the human rights being taken away from minorities at a rapid rate in the name of traditional religious beliefs, and more specifically I was thinking about rights being taken away from the LGBTQ community when he wrote this song.”
Having performed on a fresh tour of the UK and US, as well as two sets at Coachella, Rina has also announced her upcoming tour of the UK and Ireland. This October, the tour kicks off in Newcastle at O2 City Hall before making its way to finish in London with a show at Brixton Academy.
Rina is also scheduled to perform “This Hell” for the first time on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” this Thursday, May 19.
Tour and holiday dates:
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
22/7 – Southwolde Festival, England @ Latitude
8/5 – Katowice, Poland @ Off . Festival
8/20 – Osaka, Japan @ Summer Sonic Osaka
21/8 – Tokyo Festival, Japan @ Summersonic Festival
9/3 – Stradballey, 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
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