Rina Sawayama announces debut album ‘Sawayama’

Dirty Hit’s shiniest new export Rina Sawayama has just announced her debut album! The highly-anticipated record, called ‘Sawayama’, is set to land on 17th April, and promises to show her most personal music yet. “The album ultimately is about family and identity,” she explains. “It’s about understanding yourself in the context of two opposing cultures (for me British and Japanese), what ‘belonging’ means when home is an evolving concept, figuring out where you sit comfortably within and awkwardly outside of stereotypes, and ultimately trying to be ok with just being you, warts and all.”

To celebrate the news, she’s also sharing new track ‘Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)’, which doesn’t pack as much of a punch as her previous release ‘STFU!’, leaning more towards dancefloor-ready pop. Talking on the creation of the track, she says, “When I was writing this song I wanted on one hand to lyrically explore the idea of people having to adopt negative male tropes to appear confident, whilst on the other sonically paying homage to the early 2000s dance tracks that made me feel confident. The idea that the socially acceptable version of confidence is in acting ‘like the boys’, otherwise as a woman you get called a bitch - but in the club, we reclaim the word ‘bitch’ as a sign of ultimate confidence (‘yes bitch’, ‘work bitch’). I wanted to sit these two together and make a club fashion banger that makes you feeling like THAT bitch whoever you are.”

Check out the new track and full track list below.

‘Sawayama’ Tracklisting:

1. Dynasty

2. XS

3. STFU!

4. Comme des Garçons (Like The Boys)

5. Akasaka Sad

6. Paradisin’

7. Love Me 4 Me

8. Bad Friend

9. Fuck This World (Interlude)

10. Who’s Gonna Save U Now?

11. Tokyo Love Hotel

12. Chosen Family

13. Snakeskin