Hold The Girl - Rina Sawayama: Review

Rina Sawayama

is a Japanese-British pop singer who first broke through with a Clarence Clarity produced EP and broke out into the world of elevated pop and critical acclaim with her 2020 debut Sawayama. Hold The Girl features a familiar roster of collaborators but focuses on the more emotionally earnest elements of Rina's music.

Review by Lav:

Hype is a fragile thing. Coming into the year if you had told me we were in for new Rina it would have shot to the top of my list and after an excellent lead single my excitement had only gotten stronger. The continued releases since then were far from disappointing, in fact, I like most of them. But they seemed to serve as foreshadowing for Rina slipping from her pedestal as a creative pop innovator to just another of the genre's very solid and reliable voices. Far be it from me to complain about that level of quality given that Hold The Girl could still be among the better pop records released this year. It's really just that two years later Sawayama still holds up as one of the best pop records released this decade, so we compare. 

As I mentioned this era of Rina's career got started with a bang in the form of the fiery and irresistible lead single This Hell. I haven't stopped listening to it since it first came out months ago. The song is utterly infectious with a sharp and punchy instrumental and a fantastic reframing of the religious fanaticism that inspires it. The track is just great stuff throughout. I also love one of the most recent singles Phantom. I covered the song in Ringtone Magazine a few weeks ago and my opinions mostly still stand. It's a dramatic sweeping ballad with a great thematic context at its core that makes it one of the best singles and songs on the record. 

I wasn't quite as crazy about the title track Hold The Girl but after hearing it within the context of the record, especially after the album's confessionary and emotional intro. The song feels like a big statement and even though I think some of the chopped-up vocal transitions are stiff the track's core formula takes its memorable hook to an epic conclusion that lives up to it. 

The great emotional highlights continue on Forgiveness, a song that is appropriately about forgiveness and it takes on that topic with pretty grand ambitions. I love the grand rush of instrumentation and the way Rina seems to put a ton of thematic weight in the song behind the ebbs and flows of forgiving and being forgiven. It's a song that's grown on me every single time I hear it. Send My Love To John features a similar concept to many songs on the record, expressing regret for events done in the past, but this time she's playing a character. It also returns to some of the themes of anti-queer biblical hysteria but with the added slant of anti-immigrant sentiment and a focus on personal identity. Even though it stands out quite a bit sonically it's a really enjoyable song.

Imagining and Frankenstein are two of the more exciting and experimental songs on the record. The former blends together an exciting alt-pop style with Rina's larger-than-life personality. Even though I wish I could hear her vocals a bit more on the hook there isn't much on the record that gets my blood pumping like this track. Frankenstein isn't exactly a catchy pop number but it's still easy enough to digest. Mostly I've come around to the great instrumental details working away in the background. I certainly can't find anything to complain about while the song is on.

Some of the singles that I didn't like as much certainly foreshadowed issues I had with the record as a whole. Catch Me In The Air features verses that stuck with me more than I anticipated at first. Unfortunately, the rest of the song just comes out kind of flat and doesn't really stick with me no matter how many times I listen to it. Hurricanes features a very familiar summoning of 2000s pop aesthetics and just enough of a kick that I could say it's at least influenced by some of the stuff that caused Demi and Avril to go pop punk this year. It's also one of the rare moments where I have complaints about Rina's vocal performance as the crux of the song on its hook slips up when the second half comes around. 

Similar issues pop up on tracks like Holy and Your Age as well as the closing track To Be Alive. None of these are necessarily terrible by any means but songs like Holy in particular feel like some of the most vapid and aimless of Rina's entire career, 

So let's take stock. I liked more of Hold The Girl than I disliked. When the record is at its most exciting or its most emotionally potent great things happen, but it's the inconsistency that holds it back. Another thing holding it back is a turn for less ambitious production and songwriting, though I can say that Rina has grown overwhelmingly as a lyricist and the conceptual elements of this record are wonderful. If Rina is capable of combining this with her ambition and execution on Sawayama she could make an all time pop classic. But for Hold The Girl, I'll just say that I preferred what Rina's debut brought to the table even if there areall-time silver linings throughout. 6.5/10

Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson:

I really like this cover and the creative direction behind it. The outfit is fun and striking and she really looks cool, plus I live for the red background that almost glows. I wish the reflective/smoke patterns on the right would've been used more throughout the piece to make it less like just a last minute addition. This is a cool photograph by itself but it could've been made a great cover by adding a small piece of branding, maybe in the circular shape of the garment to just give it more life and tie everything together. 7.5

For more pop check out my review of Beyonce's Renaissance here