RINA SAWAYAMA SHARES NEW SINGLE "HOLD THE GIRL" ON SEPTEMBER 16TH VIA DIRTY HIT

Rina Sawayama by Thurstan Redding

Rina Sawayama Shares New Single "Hold The Girl" On September 16th Via Dirty Hit | Multidimensional, British-Japanese pop sensation Rina Sawayama shares the third offering from her highly anticipated sophomore album Hold The Girl, now releasing September 16th via Dirty Hit.

The new single and title track "Hold The Girl" premiered on BBC Radio 1 as Clara Amfo's Hottest Record In The World where Rina joined Clara in the studio to discuss the new track. Rina will follow the single release with a music video to pair with the multigenre-hybrid pop anthem on Aug 3rd.

Speaking about the origin of the new single, Rina says, “'Hold the Girl' was the first song I wrote for the record at the end of 2020–I had gone to therapy and had a revelation, so I decided to write this song...that was the start of it. I was crying before going into the studio to write about it."

RINA SELLS OUT O2 BRIXTON AND CARDIFF DATE ADDED AHEAD OF HOLD THE GIRL UK AND IRELAND TOUR

Along with the new single, Rina has announced her North American headline tour happening this November. The 13-date run will see Rina playing iconic venues like the Great Hall at Avant Gardner in New York City, Roadrunner in Boston, The Eastern in Atlanta, and the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Tickets will be available on July 29th HERE. The American leg of the Hold The Girl tour will follow on from her UK and Ireland dates this October, where she will play to a sold-out O2 Brixton Academy marking a legendary moment in the pop star's career. Rina will also perform sets at Summer Sonic in Japan and Electric Picnic in Ireland.

The album showcases Rina's talent for bending huge chart influences and blockbuster melodies to her will with precision-tuned songwriting and powerful vocals. The 13-tracks of Hold The Girl will feature the previously released singles "This Hell," which debuted with a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and features an Ali Kurr-directed video, along with "Catch Me In The Air," which premiered as Zane Lowe's New Music Daily pick on Apple Music 1 and arrived with a visualizer created with fan-submitted footage of Rina performing the song across her recent UK and US tours.

"Hold The Girl" track artwork - Credit: Thurstan Redding

Hold The Girl follows Rina's critically acclaimed debut SAWAYAMA and will see Rina once again juxtapose intimate storytelling with arena-sized songs creating another ambitious and original album to excite fans and critics alike. Written and recorded over the last year and a half, Rina teamed up with long-term collaborators Clarence Clarity and Lauren Aquilina as well as enlisting help from the likes of the legendary Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence & the Machine), Stuart Price (Dua Lipa, The Killers, Madonna) and Marcus Andersson (Demi Lovato, Ashnikko) for their magic touch. The product of Rina and these collective minds coming together is an album that melds influences from across the pop spectrum and is a bold and honest statement of Rina’s personal evolution; coming to terms with her own past and the jubilation of turning to the future.

In 2020, Rina’s debut album SAWAYAMA became one of the most critically acclaimed albums that year landing on over 50 album of the year lists, including the New York Times (#2), The Guardian (#3) and Rolling Stone (#6). The last 18 months have seen Rina Sawayama achieve a magnitude of milestones including changing the Mercury Prize and BRITs eligibility rules which meant Non-British artists could apply if they have been a permanent resident in the UK for more than 5 years. In 2021 Elton John joined forces with the pop star to release a special rendition of “Chosen Family," a powerful and emotional ode to her LGBTQ+ family. Elsewhere Rina injected new life into Lady Gaga’s instant club classic “Free Woman.” 2023 will see Rina in her film acting debut as she stars in John Wick 4 alongside Keanu Reeves.

Check out "Hold The Girl" single and pre-order/save Hold The Girl album as well as checking out upcoming live dates below and stay tuned for more from Rina Sawayama coming soon.