Sawayama

Sawayama is the debut studio album by Japanese-British singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama, released on 17 April 2020 by the independent record label Dirty Hit. A follow-up to her self-released debut EP Rina (2017), it received widespread acclaim from music critics, specifically towards the wide variety of music genres used, as well as its Y2K nostalgia and "intelligent" nature. Described by Sawayama herself as being "about family and identity", she lyrically explores personal experiences from both her childhood and adulthood.^[2][3][4]

Sawayama
Digital cover. The cover of the physical edition features the title on the image's upper side.
Studio album by Rina Sawayama
Released	17 April 2020 (2020-04-17)
Recorded	2018–2019
Studio	Heavy Duty Studios (Los Angeles) DH00270 (London) Shelter Studios (London)
Genre	Pop rock R&B dance-pop
Length	43:34
Language	English Japanese
Label	Dirty Hit, Avex Trax
Producer	Clarence Clarity Chris Lyon Bram Inscore Danny L Harle Rina Sawayama Jonathan Gilmore Kyle Shearer
Rina Sawayama chronology
Rina (2017) Sawayama (2020) Sawayama Remixed (2020)
Singles from Sawayama
"STFU!" Released: 22 November 2019 "Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" Released: 17 January 2020 "XS" Released: 2 March 2020 "Chosen Family" Released: 3 April 2020 "Bad Friend" Released: 15 April 2020^[1]

Sawayama was primarily produced by Clarence Clarity and written by Sawayama, with additional work from musicians such as Danny L Harle, Kyle Shearer, Jonathan Gilmore, Bram Inscore and Lauren Aquilina among others. Musically, the album is influenced by 2000s mainstream pop, nu metal, rock, R&B, and dance-pop among other genres.^[5][6][7][8]

Background and composition

Sawayama was recorded in London and Los Angeles.^[9] The artist herself stated in a press release that the album "is about family and identity. 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."^[4]

Musically, Sawayama is produced, performed and recorded in a wide variety of genres. Primarily influenced by 2000s mainstream pop, nu metal, rock, R&B, and dance-pop, it also was noted by critics to include elements of arena rock, EDM, avant-pop, hyperpop, electro, art pop, house, hair metal, hip-hop, experimental, synth-pop, bubblegum pop, emo pop, grunge, industrial, dubstep, country pop, pop rock, gospel, glam rock, trap, trip hop, folk, J-pop and electro-dub.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]}

Promotion

Singles

"STFU!" was released as the lead single to the then-unannounced album on 21 November 2019.^[21] It is a nu metal track and represents a change in direction for Sawayama.^[22] The song premiered alongside the music video, which was co-directed by Ali Kurr and Sawayama herself.^[23] The single was met with critical acclaim, achieving a score of 82 on the website Album Of The Year (based on both Critic and User reviews).^[24] It was inspired by "a cascade of microaggressions" with a message that "Asian women should not be cast as quiet and subservient."^[25]

"Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" was released as the second single to the album, along with the album pre-order,^[26] on 17 January 2020. It is a dance track written about female empowerment and the "rejection of traditional masculinity" by gay men.^[26] A remix of the track was released a month later, on 21 February 2020, featuring Brazilian drag queen Pabllo Vittar and a new mix by Brabo.^[27] A music video featuring the original mix of the song was released on 26 February 2020.^[28]

"XS" was released as the album's third official single on 2 March 2020.^[29] Sawayama stated that the track "is a song that mocks capitalism in a sinking world. Given that we all know global climate change is accelerating and human extinction is a very real possibility within our lifetime it seemed hilarious to me that brands were still coming out with new makeup palettes every month and public figures were doing a gigantic house tour of their gated property in Calabasas in the same week as doing a 'sad about Australian wildfires' Instagram post."^[30] This song received positive reviews, with Sofia Meyers of Euphoria stating that "if this is the direction she is going in, we're all in for what's next."^[31] A music video for the track was released on 17 April 2020.^[32] On 10 July 2020, the remix of the song came out in collaboration with the musician Bree Runway, with the difference that the introduction is a little different from the original and the verse from Bree Runway replaces the second from the original version.

"Chosen Family" was released as the album's fourth single on 3 April 2020.^[33] Prior to the single's release, Sawayama leaked its chords and lyrics so that fans create their own versions of the track.^[34] She also released a video featuring her favourite fan made versions of the track as well as a tutorial of how to play the song on the guitar.^[33]

"Bad Friend" was released as the fifth single from the record on 15 April 2020, two days before the album's release.^[35] Sawayama herself has described the track as her favourite from the album and stated that it was written after she found out through social media that her formerly close friend had just had a baby.^[36] The music video was released in May.^[37]

Tour

Main article: The Dynasty Tour

In January 2020, Sawayama announced through her social media The Dynasty Tour, her second concert series, with dates in North America and Europe.^[38] Due to safety concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour dates were rescheduled to 2021.^[39] The tour began on 8 November 2021, in Dublin, Ireland, and concluded on 13 May 2022, in New York City. American singer and DJ Hana and London-based singer Ama Jones served as opening acts for the first leg of the tour.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.3/10^[40]
Metacritic	89/100^[41]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[42]
Clash	9/10^[43]
Consequence of Sound	A−^[44]
DIY	^[45]
The Independent	^[11]
The Line of Best Fit	9/10^[10]
NME	^[46]
Pitchfork	7.7/10^[47]
Q	^[48]
Rolling Stone	^[49]

Sawayama garnered widespread critical acclaim from music critics and listeners alike.^[50] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 89 out of 100, based on reviews from 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[41] The album was rated an 8.3 out of 10 on the aggregator AnyDecentMusic?.^[40]

The Line of Best Fit writer Erin Bashford called it a "deftly intelligent record [that] takes personal and musical themes, and presents them in a way that doesn't feel like it's ever been done before". She also praised Sawayama's "strong and emotional vocals" and "tak[ing] motifs and styles from every genre and era and curat[ing] something that feels futuristic", summing up her review by stating "Rina Sawayama is one-of-a-kind, and her debut album certainly isn't going to be quiet about that".^[10] NME complimented Sawayama for being "an exciting first step from an artist unafraid to push pop into new realms".^[51] Writing for Pitchfork, Katherine St. Asaph described Sawayama as "a Y2K flashback that’s as reverent of Evanescence and Korn as it is of Britney and Christina."^[47] In June 2020, Elton John called the album "the strongest album of the year so far" and regarded the song "Bad Friend" as one that "Madonna would die for."^[52] Tom Hull was less impressed, giving it a B-minus and saying the "music aims for arena rock, sometimes with a bit of dissonance, but that doesn't help either."^[53]

Year-end lists

Select rankings for Sawayama

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Billboard	Top 50 Best Albums of 2020	20	^[54]
Consequence of Sound	The 50 Best Albums of 2020	13	^[55]
Gigwise	The Gigwise 51 Best Albums of 2020	1	^[56]
The Guardian	The 50 best albums of 2020	3	^[57]
The Line of Best Fit	The Best Albums of 2020 Ranked	1	^[58]
The New York Times	Best Albums of 2020 (Jon Caramanica's list)	2	^[59]
NME	The 50 Best Albums of 2020	7	^[60]
Paste	The 50 Best Albums of 2020	8	^[61]
The Skinny	Top 10 Albums of 2020	5	^[62]
USA Today	The 10 best albums of 2020	2	^[63]

Track listing

Sawayama - standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Dynasty"	Rina Sawayama Adam Crisp	Sawayama Clarence Clarity Jonathan Gilmore	3:08
2.	"XS"	Sawayama Nathaniel Campany Kyle Shearer Christopher Lyon	Sawayama Clarity Valley Girl Lyon	3:21
3.	"STFU!"	Sawayama Crisp	Clarity	3:23
4.	"Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)"	Sawayama Nicole Morier Bram Inscore	Inscore	3:01
5.	"Akasaka Sad"	Sawayama Crisp	Sawayama Clarity	3:02
6.	"Paradisin'"	Sawayama Crisp	Sawayama Clarity	3:06
7.	"Love Me 4 Me"	Sawayama Morier Inscore	Clarity	3:12
8.	"Bad Friend"	Sawayama Jonny Lattimer	Sawayama Gilmore Shearer	3:28
9.	"Fuck This World (Interlude)"	Sawayama Crisp	Sawayama Clarity	2:45
10.	"Who's Gonna Save U Now?"	Sawayama Lattimer Richard Cooper	Sawayama Clarity	3:21
11.	"Tokyo Love Hotel"	Sawayama Lauren Aquilina Oscar Scheller	Clarity	4:27
12.	"Chosen Family"	Sawayama	Danny L Harle	4:08
13.	"Snakeskin"	Sawayama Crisp Lattimer	Sawayama Clarity	3:12
Total length:				43:34

Sawayama – Japanese edition (bonus track)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Tokyo Takeover"	Sawayama Justin Tailor	Sawayama	3:27
Total length:				47:01

Digital deluxe edition (bonus disc)^[64]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Lucid"	Sawayama Aquilina Michael Tucker	BloodPop	3:38
2.	"We Out Here"	Sawayama Crisp	Clarity	2:57
3.	"Bees & Honey" (with Coco Morier)	Sawayama Morier Inscore	Inscore	1:47
4.	"Love It If We Made It" (The 1975 cover)	Matthew Healy George Daniel Adam Hann Ross MacDonald	Clarity	4:04
5.	"XS" (live)	Sawayama Campany Shearer Lyon	Sawayama Gilmore	3:43
6.	"STFU!" (acoustic)	Sawayama Crisp	Joseph Rodgers	3:33
7.	"Bad Friend" (acoustic)	Sawayama Lattimer	Rodgers	3:29
8.	"Chosen Family" (acoustic)	Sawayama	Rodgers	4:06
9.	"Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" (Brabo Remix) (featuring Pabllo Vittar)	Sawayama Morier Inscore Phabullo Silva	Inscore	3:42
10.	"XS" (Remix) (featuring Bree Runway)	Sawayama Campany Shearer Lyon Brenda Mensah	Sawayama Shearer Lyon Clarity Valley Girl	3:23
11.	"Bad Friend" (Dream Wife Remix)	Sawayama Lattimer	Sawayama Shearer Gilmore Ryan Harvey Clarity	4:14
Total length:				1:22:17

Vinyl deluxe edition bonus tracks^[65]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Lucid"	Sawayama Aquilina Michael Tucker	BloodPop	3:38
15.	"Chosen Family" (with Elton John)	Sawayama Harle Lattimer	Harle	4:40
16.	"We Out Here"	Sawayama Crisp	Clarity	2:57
17.	"Bees & Honey"	Sawayama Morier Inscore	Inscore	1:47
18.	"Love It If We Made It" (The 1975 cover)	Matthew Healy George Daniel Adam Hann Ross MacDonald	Clarity	4:04
19.	"XS" (live)	Sawayama Campany Shearer Lyon	Sawayama Gilmore	3:43
20.	"STFU!" (acoustic)	Sawayama Crisp	Joseph Rodgers	3:33
21.	"Bad Friend" (acoustic)	Sawayama Lattimer	Rodgers	3:29
22.	"Chosen Family" (acoustic)	Sawayama	Rodgers	4:06
23.	"Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" (Brabo Remix) (featuring Pabllo Vittar)	Sawayama Morier Inscore Phabullo Silva	Inscore	3:42
24.	"XS" (Remix) (featuring Bree Runway)	Sawayama Campany Shearer Lyon Brenda Mensah	Sawayama Shearer Lyon Clarity Valley Girl	3:23
25.	"Bad Friend" (Dream Wife Remix)	Sawayama Lattimer	Sawayama Shearer Gilmore Ryan Harvey Clarity	4:14
Total length:				86:57

Japanese deluxe edition bonus tracks^[66]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Lucid"	Sawayama Aquilina Michael Tucker	BloodPop	3:38
16.	"Chosen Family" (with Elton John)	Sawayama Harle Lattimer	Harle	4:40
17.	"We Out Here"	Sawayama Crisp	Clarity	2:57
18.	"Bees & Honey"	Sawayama Morier Inscore	Inscore	1:47
19.	"Love It If We Made It" (The 1975 cover)	Matthew Healy George Daniel Adam Hann Ross MacDonald	Clarity	4:04
20.	"XS" (live)	Sawayama Campany Shearer Lyon	Sawayama Gilmore	3:43
21.	"STFU!" (acoustic)	Sawayama Crisp	Joseph Rodgers	3:33
22.	"Bad Friend" (acoustic)	Sawayama Lattimer	Rodgers	3:29
23.	"Chosen Family" (acoustic)	Sawayama	Rodgers	4:06
24.	"Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" (Brabo Remix) (featuring Pabllo Vittar)	Sawayama Morier Inscore Phabullo Silva	Inscore	3:42
25.	"XS" (Remix) (featuring Bree Runway)	Sawayama Campany Shearer Lyon Brenda Mensah	Sawayama Shearer Lyon Clarity Valley Girl	3:23
26.	"Bad Friend" (Dream Wife Remix)	Sawayama Lattimer	Sawayama Shearer Gilmore Ryan Harvey Clarity	4:14
27.	"Bad Friend" (End of the World Remix)	Sawayama Lattimer		3:14

Japanese deluxe edition bonus Music Video collection Blu-ray Disc^[67]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"XS" (Music Video)	3:39
2.	"STFU!" (Music Video)	6:20
3.	"Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" (Music Video)	3:04
4.	"Bad Friend" (Music Video)	3:39
5.	"Lucid" (Extended Reality Video)	4:12
6.	"Bad Friend" (End of the World Remix)	3:15
7.	"Chosen Family (with Elton John)" (Music Video)	4:46
8.	"Chosen Family" (Live Performance Video)

• As of March 2024, the cover of "Love It If We Made It" has been removed from digital versions of the album.

Sample credit

• "Snakeskin" samples Japanese video game Final Fantasy IV's "Fanfare", composed by Nobuo Uematsu (1991).^[68]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[69]

Musicians London Community Gospel Choir – choir vocals (1, 8, 10) Adam Hann – additional guitars (1, 2, 10) Freddy Sheed – additional drums (1, 2, 10)

Artwork Ben Ditto – creative direction Hendrik Schneider – photography Samuel Burgess-Johnson – layout Jack Westall – "Remixed" artwork

Technical

• Spike Stent – mixing (1–5, 7, 8, 10, 11)
• Tim Rowkins – mixer (2, 6, 9, 12, 13)
• Robin Schmidt – mastering
• Joseph Rodgers – additional engineering (1, 2, 8, 10)
• Jonathan Gilmore – additional engineering (1, 2, 10)
• Chloe Kraemer – additional engineering (7)

Charts

Chart performance for Sawayama

Chart (2020–2021)	Peak position
Australian Vinyl Albums (ARIA)^[70]	20
Japan Download Albums (Billboard Japan)^[71]	65
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[72]	24
UK Albums (OCC)^[73]	80
UK Independent Albums (OCC)^[74]	5
US Top Current Album Sales (Billboard)^[75]	82
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)^[76]	6
US Independent Albums (Billboard)^[77]	43

Sawayama Remixed

Sawayama Remixed
Remix album / Extended play by Rina Sawayama
Released	27 November 2020 (2020-11-27)
Length	19:09
Language	English Japanese
Label	Dirty Hit
Producer	Clarence Clarity Jonathan Gilmore Valley Girl Ran Harvey Bram Inscore Chris Lyon Rina Sawayama Kyle Shearer
Rina Sawayama chronology
Sawayama (2020) Sawayama Remixed (2020) Hold the Girl (2022)
Singles from Sawayama Remixed
"Dance in the Dark" Released: 29 June 2020

Sawayama Remixed is a remix extended play by Japanese-British singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama.^[78] The limited edition set was released on 12-inch vinyl on 27 November 2020 via Rough Trade.^[79] The remixes of "XS" and "Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" had previously been released as singles earlier in the year and Sawayama's cover of "Dance in the Dark" was released as part of her Spotify Singles series.^[80][81][82]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Dance in the Dark" (Lady Gaga cover)	Fernando Garibay Stefani Germanotta	Clarence Clarity	3:45
2.	"Love It If We Made It" (The 1975 cover)	Adam Hann George Daniel Ross MacDonald Matty Healy	Clarity	4:04
3.	"Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)" (Pabllo Vittar remix)	Rina Sawayama Bram Inscore Nicole Morier	Bram Inscore	3:42
4.	"XS" (Bree Runway remix)	Sawayama Chris Lyon Kyle Shearer Nate Campany Bree Runway	Shearer Lyon Clarity Valley Girl	3:23
5.	"Bad Friend" (Dream Wife remix)	Sawayama Jonny Lattimer	Sawayama Shearer Jonathan Gilmore Ryan Harvey Clarity	4:14
Total length:				19:09

Release history

Release formats for Sawayama

Country	Date	Format	Version	Label	Ref.
Various	17 April 2020	Digital download streaming vinyl CD	Standard	Dirty Hit	^[83]^[84]^[85]
	26 November 2020	cassette			^[86]
	27 November 2020	Vinyl	Remixes		^[79]
	4 December 2020	Digital download streaming	Deluxe		^[64]
	17 September 2021	LP			^[citation needed]
Japan	3 August 2022	CD CD/Blu-ray		Avex Trax	^[66]^[67]

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