Rina Sawayama has released a new song called “Hold the Girl.” The title track from her upcoming album, the single premiered on Clara Amfo’s BBC Radio 1 show Future Sounds, and the vocalist sat down with Amfo to discuss the song.
“‘Hold the Girl’ was the first song I wrote for the record at the end of 2020,” she said in the interview. “I had gone to therapy and had a revelation, so I decided to write this song… that was the start of [the writing process for the album]. I was crying before going into the studio to write about it.”
Sawayama has also announced that she’ll be heading out on a North American tour following the release of Hold the Girl. She’ll perform in 13 venues across the United States, kicking things off at Brooklyn’s Avant Gardner before trekking up and down the East Coast, through Texas and the Southwest, and into California, with her final date at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
Hold the Girl is out September 2 via Dirty Hit. The album will include the recent singles “Catch Me in the Air” and “This Hell” and follow her 2020 self-titled debut album. Sawayama recently played “This Hell” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and the song later received an Ali Kurr–directed music video.
Revisit Pitchfork’s 2020 Rising interview “Rina Sawayama on Her Wildly Eclectic and Disarmingly Personal Debut Album.”
All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Rina Sawayama:
08-06 San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival
08-20 Osaka, Japan – Summer Sonic Festival
08-21 Tokyo, Japan – Summer Sonic Festival
09-03 Stradbally, Ireland – Electric Picnic
10-12 Glasgow, Scotland – SWG3
10-13 Glasgow, Scotland – SWG3
10-15 Dublin, 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, England – Brighton Dome
10-24 Cardiff, Wales – The Great Hall
10-26 London, England – O2 Academy Brixton
11-01 Brooklyn, NY – Great Hall at Avant Gardner
11-04 Boston, MA – Roadrunner
11-05 Silver Springs, MD – The Fillmore
11-06 Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore
11-08 Atlanta, GA – The Eastern
11-09 Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works
11-11 Dallas, TX – South Side Ballroom
11-12 Austin, TX – Emo’s Austin
11-13 Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
11-16 Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
11-18 San Diego, CA – SOMA
11-21 Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
11-23 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium