REVIEW: Rina Sawayama's Hold the Girl off of Dirty Hit

 

Hold the Girl is the sophomore album by Japanese-British artist Rina Sawayama. After the 2020 debut I was left impressed by the modern pop and nu metal fusions and how willing Sawayama was to show her scars to the world and eagerly awaited a follow up. However as the singles to this new record were released I honestly felt more and more underwhelmed.


This record itself wasn’t really a let down and in context of the entire project I felt great about some of the songs themselves, including singles that I didn’t love, I just don’t feel it's as strong a record as Sawayama and shares one of its deepest flaws on top of that. As much as I did have a great first few listens of both these projects they both begin to feel stale fast and I don’t feel drawn to repeat listens as a whole body of work, just a song here or there. I do, however, have to applaud the risks taken here as Sawayama herself does go outside her lane quite a bit and while I don’t think it sticks the landing all the time it does make for admirable musicianship. I also enjoy how the metal based influences are replaced more so by classic rock and how they fit the themes even better in a lot of ways.


In spite of my issues I really resonate with songs like the title track on my own personal level. In it Sawayama talks about giving care to her inner child and making sure that part of her heart feels taken care of from her own trauma. In my own way I feel the same toward my own transition. My inner child didn’t get to be a little girl and while I wish she did I want her to know that I’m trying my hardest to make up for that.


Support this artist

Follow me on Twitter

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Best of Month: The top 25 songs of the year

Hi, it’s me, it’s Claudia, and today I’m going to do something I haven’t done yet. So every year I do the top ten singles of the year, but I don’t actually even listen to singles anymore. Unless I know they’re going to be singles, like on their own, otherwise I feel like they’re spoiling the record for me. This year I thought it’d be fun to broadcast my top twenty-five songs of the year because I do this every year for friends, mainly myself, but now it can be content. So, this won’t be a highly produced blog post and instead be very casual but hopefully you’ll get something out of it. If you’re coming from Reddit read the link below before leaving any comments for me on here or Reddit itself and let’s get started. Also, quick note. Some of these did not come out this year but are on records released this year. In those cases, assume I haven't heard the track till this year. Coming from Reddit? Start here! #25 “Glow in the Dark” by Mothica is from Rocksmith+ but it's also just
Read more

Best of Month; the Top 10 Albums of 2023

Image
2023 has come to a close and it was a lot to unpack. After relocating last year I had to figure out what to do next, admittedly a scarier process than moving itself. I’ve settled in now, changes have gone on, there were a lot of hard times and a lot of great memories made throughout the year. You may have noticed, if you’re a long-time reader, I was far less open about my own personal life in my reviews. If you’re new and this is your first year here, then hey you never knew this part of the blog. In these blurbs there are personal anecdotes, but they are far less revealing. Regardless, thank you for even clicking here. This year for my own writing was possibly the best yet. I reviewed more albums in one year than ever before and worked with ten artists to promote their stuff before the release date. If all the stars align there’s one more thing coming out this year. I hope you had a great year yourself, are having a relaxing holiday season and enjoy this recap of albums. Please suppor
Read more

Best of Month: The final reviews of the year

Image
Best of Month! We wrote so many reviews this year there were a ton leftover. So, to open the year end stuff this year, we're emptying the vault. There are a few pre-requisites for reading this year (but only if you came from Reddit) So look for that below. From Reddit? Start here! Rat Jesu - Prepared to Die (Drixxo Lords) I have been a pretty public cybergrind defender on the timeline, but in all honesty I haven’t dug into the genre on my own time. I’m not sure if you would consider Rat Jesu cybergrind but they’re definitely part of the movement, in fact I came to this record by following this artist from a feature on the newest Blind Equation. As I said above, Prepared to Die isn’t so much cybergrind but it is a neat, quick nu metal record with hyperpop influence. James from Blind Equation does show up as a feature and the song he’s on is a hit regardless of genre. My favorite track on the record, however, has got to be “Priestess of the Godless Valley,” There are two other featur
Read more