Rina Sawayama and Taylor Swift.Photo: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty for Burberry; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Rina Sawayamais taking notes from the book ofTaylor Swift.
In a new interview withRolling Stone UK, Sawayama spoke in-depth about creating her upcoming sophomore albumHold the Girland said hearing Swift’sFolkloreinspired her to write about personal experiences through a poetic lens.
“I was trapping myself and I’m sure a lot of people felt this anxiety: you just became this weird workaholic but depressed person,” recalled Sawayama, who then underwent “intense and specialized therapy” and “opened up” to new ways of creating music through complex emotions.
“The new kind of therapy really opened up new points of exploration and I really wanted to see whether I could make those things into a pop song,” said the musician.
Sawayama then heard an album that further inspired her to push through the creative rut. “I remember whenTaylor SwiftreleasedFolklore, I was like, ‘This bitch is writing about fake stories and she just wrote a whole album,'” she lightheartedly explained. “‘If she can do it, I need to do it.'”
Hold the Girlwill tell the story of Sawayama’s emotional growth over the last few years. But similar toFolklore, listeners will have to decode the stories featured within the album’s lyrics for themselves — at least until the “XS” singer reveals their true meanings.
“For me, it’s important that the listener is able to listen to it as a pop record first without that background, [and] make their own feelings about it,” she teased. “And then, when I’m ready, I think I will be able to talk about what it’s actually about.”
In perhaps an unrelated nod to Swift’s genre-bending career,Hold the Girlwill also see Sawayama veer into country-inspired sounds, as she’s already done on lead single “This Hell,” whichRolling Stone UKdescribed as “equal parts Shania Twain, [Lady] Gaga, and ABBA.”
“I’ve just been so fascinated with the feeling of escapism that country music has. It’s very homey, but for a Brit, it sounds like the big Wild West,” she detailed. “It’s quite random for a Japanese-British artist to make country music, but I never really care about those kinds of things. I just want to have fun.”
Hold the Girlwill be released Sept. 2 via Dirty Hit.
source: people.com
