Hold the Girl

This article is about the album. For the song, see Hold the Girl (song).

* Standard
* Reissue

## Singles

1. "This Hell"
Released: 18 May 2022
2. "Catch Me in the Air"
Released: 27 June 2022
3. "Hold the Girl"
Released: 27 July 2022
4. "Phantom"
Released: 25 August 2022
5. "Hurricanes"
Released: 12 September 2022

***Hold the Girl*** is the sophomore studio album by Rina Sawayama, which was released on 16 September 2022 through Dirty Hit. A follow-up to her debut studio album *Sawayama* (2020), *Hold the Girl* is the result of the singer channeling the trauma she experienced as a teenager, after beginning a "more intense and specialized therapy." The title refers to Sawayama's attempts to understand the person she was younger, especially as a child. She came up with this title following a therapy session in late 2020.

The album features production from Stuart Price, Clarence Clarity, Marcus Andersson, Barney Lister, Paul Epworth, For Those I Love, Lauren Aquilina and Sawayama herself. Five singles were released prior the album:, with the lead single "This Hell" released on 18 May 2022 along with the album's pre order; it was followed by the singles "Catch Me in the Air" on 27 June, "Hold the Girl" on 27 July, "Phantom" on 25 August and "Hurricanes" on 12 September. To promote the album, Sawayama embarked on the Hold the Girl Tour, which began on 12 October 2022. The tour was then followed up by "*Hold the Girl Tour: Reloaded*", beginning on 9 June 2023.

Upon its release, *Hold the Girl* received critical acclaim from music critics, many of whom praised the way Sawayama expressed "family tragedies" in a "fresh, hopeful, and magnificently powerful" way. Commercially, the album debuted at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, marking Sawayama's highest entry ever on the chart. It also marked Sawayama's first entry on the Australian and Irish album charts, debuting at number 12 and number 5, respectively. In the United States, *Hold the Girl* debuted at number 166, becoming Sawayama's first album ever to enter the *Billboard* 200.

## Background

In April 2020, Rina Sawayama released her debut studio album, *Sawayama*, to widespread critical acclaim that gave her further recognition. During the first anniversary of the album, in 2021, Sawayama revealed that she has "already started album 2" with *Sawayama* co-producer Clarence Clarity. "Put next to SAWAYAMA its gonna cover all musical bases", she tweeted. During a December 2020 interview with Music Feeds, Sawayama said she got "about half an album" of working songs already. "I'm going to keep writing, and I've heard that I might be going to Nashville to write which is one of my dreams. That's important to me because country music and people who write in country – they are so about the story."

## Conception

During the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Sawayama felt she was creatively blocked because she didn't have "any new experiences." However, she took American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's *folklore*, released in July 2020, as inspiration for the composition of *Hold the Girl*. "If the best songwriter in the world can write an entire record about other people's stories, there's no reason why I can't do it," Sawayama stated during an interview with *Nuebo* magazine.

Sawayama had two goals on the album: to write songs representing what she feels and to experiment with musical genres while remaining within a pop framework. “As a songwriter, I want to write ever more catchy songs that could connect with a lot of people who would sing along to them. But I evolved in terms of writing on this record compared to my first album. I take storytelling and melodies very seriously, however, I have fun with the concepts of musical genres. I spend a lot of time producing and combining sounds in the most fun way possible while trying to create new sounds.”

## Writing and recording

For *Hold the Girl*, Sawayama's technical goal was to "fulfil some of the production dreams that I wanted to in my first record [*Sawayama*]," she said during a September 2022 interview with *NME*, explaining that she worked with a vocal producer and learned more about the mixing process. For songwriting, Sawayama had one key aspiration: "I just wanted to write big songs," she explained.

The first song Sawayama wrote for the album was its title track, "Hold the Girl". It was written at the end of 2020, after she had a revelation while she was going to therapy. She recalled on a press release, "that was the start of it, and then I started doing more intense therapy. I was crying before going into the studio and going into the studio to write about it."

Sawayama originally intended to record the album in Nashville, but due to lockdown protocols at the moment, she wrote songs over Zoom with Clarence Clarity and Lauren Aquilina. Sawayama eventually recorded the entire album in studios across London, UK.

On 6 May 2021, Sawayama tweeted "already written enough amazing new songs for a second album wow my minddddddddd." In a second tweet, she added, "lately I'm on fire in the studio for like 2 weeks straight then I have a breakdown and have to sleep for like 3 weeks then repeat. I'm fine tho." During an interview with *Billboard* in June 2021, Sawayama promised for the album she will "mine even more left-field references from decades past". In November 2021, Sawayama embarked to her Dynasty Tour to promote the album *Sawayama*. During the show in Glasgow, Scotland on 13 November, she announced she's "touring my first album while finishing my second album." Then, she performed a brand new track titled "Catch Me in the Air", which is about her relationship with her mother.

On 14 February 2022, Sawayama assisted at the Coach fall 2022 runway show where she was interviewed by *W* magazine, and revealed on her second album that "we're really at the final stages. We’re thinking about creative treatments and album cover art." In late March 2022, Sawayama posted some photos in the studio with Clarence Clarity and Marcus Andersson, reportedly finishing the album.

## Title and artwork

Sawayama came up with the title *Hold the Girl* during a therapy session, and it refers to her "attempts to understand the person I was younger, especially as a child," she stated.

The *Hold the Girl* cover artwork was revealed on 18 May 2022. It is a photo of Sawayama posing on water in a red background, designed by Miguel Bento. The photo was shot by Thurstan Redding, who went to Cambridge University in England along with Sawayama. For the photo, she was styled by Jordan Kelsey and wears a big black balloon dress by designer Terrence Zhou. Her makeup and nails were done by Mona Leanne and Angel's Nailz, respectively.

According to Sawayama, the *Hold the Girl* cover art represents a form of "isolation and gestation".

> It looks like I'm going to give birth to something, with this round shape at the bottom of my body. It's like something is living inside of me and it has to come out. It's not a metaphor of being pregnant but rather this image refers to the concept of giving birth to a lot of personal things with this album.
>
>

On 14 August 2023, Sawayama announced a reissue of the album with the title track's single cover art, to celebrate one year of the album's release. The cover was changed on all streaming platforms soon after the announcement. Rina also explained why she choosed that cover in the same post.

> I've always loved this image and feel it encapsulates the album and all of its themes (more on that later).
>
>

## Release

The album was initially set for release on 2 September 2022, however, due to "production issues", Sawayama pushed back the album's release date to 16 September.

The album pre-order was made available on 18 May 2022. The Dirty Hit store website was also updated with the pre-order of four different formats of *Hold the Girl*: two vinyl, a CD and a cassette.

The aforementioned reissue announcement on 14 August 2023 also came with the announcement of a new CD and vinyl pressing, releasing on 15 September 2023.

## Promotion

On 11 May 2022, selected journalists received pamphlets with the phrases "Rina is going to hell" and "An invitation to eternal damnation", teasing the new era. The next day, Sawayama posted a picture of the pamphlet with the caption "#RinaIsGoingToHell". She was also announced as a performer for the *The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon* a week before her performance on the show.

On the day of the Dynasty Tour's last show on 13 May 2022, Sawayama blanked out her Instagram account deleting or archiving all of her pictures. The last time she did this was in 2019 ahead of the release of "STFU!", the lead single of *Sawayama*. She then posted a picture of her stepping on the "Rina is going to hell" pamphlet. During the show at the Dynasty Tour, Sawayama confirmed that the new era would begin "the next week", and a snippet of an unknown song was played. When fans found the pamphlets, they noticed that the title of a song, "This Hell," was written inside with its lyrics in the background.

Sawayama performed the song on *The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon* on 19 May and on 29 May at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend on the Future Sounds Stage. "This Hell" was also part of the setlists for Sawayama during festivals, including the Primavera Sound, British Summer Time and Latitude Festival, among others.

On 6 August, Sawayama performed at Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco where she debuted a brand new track from *Hold the Girl*, "Hurricanes".

### Tour

Main article: Hold the Girl Tour
On 18 May 2022, Sawayama announced the Hold the Girl Tour, her third headlining concert tour supporting the album *Hold the Girl*, with eights dates in Europe. On 26 July, Sawayama announced the US leg for the Hold the Girl Tour with 13 dates in November 2022. On 30 July, with three sold-out dates, Sawayama added a second date in Brooklyn.

A new version of the tour titled "*Hold the Girl Tour: Reloaded*" was announced 28 March 2023, with all new locations in the United States. This included normal shows as well as different music festivals. This time around, she has made an all new setlist, new visuals, and new costumes to go along with it.

Sawayama explained on an episode of RINA TV that the original tour started so close after the album released that there was no time for her to think about what she wanted to do for the tour, and that there was a lack of emotional connection with it on stage. This new version of the tour was to change all that and to give meaning for the things she was actually doing on stage.

She has also stated that this is the "final chapter" for Hold the Girl.

### Intimate shows & signing

Sawayama announced dates for in-store signings and out-store intimate performances during the album's release week.

Out-store performances
 September 18 | London | Village Underground/Rough Trade

Signings
 October 18 | Nottingham | Rough Trade Nottingham
 October 21 | Birmingham | HMV Vault Birmingham

## Singles

"This Hell" was released as the album's lead single on 18 May 2022. Sawayama teased the song a week before officially announcing it in mid-May 2022. Its music video directed by Ali Kurr premiered on YouTube on 15 June 2022.

The second single, "Catch Me in the Air" was released on 27 June 2022 alongside its visualiser featuring clips of Sawayama performing the song at the Dynasty Tour (2021–22). The third single, the album's title track "Hold the Girl", was released on 27 July 2022. On 25 August, Sawayama released "Phantom" as the fourth single off the album, which was followed by the release of "Hurricanes" on 12 September 2022.

"**This Hell**"
18 May 2022"**Catch Me in the Air**"
27 June 2022"**Hold the Girl**"
27 July 2022"**Phantom**"
25 August 2022"**Hurricanes**"
12 September 2022
## Critical reception

*Hold the Girl* was met with positive reviews from music critics. On review aggregator Metacritic, it received a score of 84 out of 100 based on 19 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". On review aggregator AnyDecentMusic?, the album has a rating of 8.1 out of 10 based on 21 reviews.

Rob Sheffield from *Rolling Stone* felt that *Hold the Girl* is "smoother on the surface" than *Sawayama* (2020), "channeling her twisted visions into straight-ahead pop tunes with arena-ready confidence. The whole album is high on queer bravado, but Sawayama explores vulnerable territory," he wrote. Sheffield concluded that the most exciting thing about the album is that "you can’t even guess where Sawayama might go next. [...] These songs make it clear that Sawayama can blast off into any future she wants." Calling it one of the best pop records of the year, *Clash* magazine's writer James Mellen considered that *Hold the Girl* is a record that holds something for everyone. "Rock riffs, club beats, saccharine melodies, 2000s pop… it truly covers a lot of ground." Mellen also compared it to *Sawayama*, but felt that this time it feels more refined, consistent and polished, "exactly what a follow up should be." *Consequence of Sound*'s Mary Siroky stated that while the subject matter of *Hold the Girl* feels "more contained and focused" than *Sawayama* effort, this album also has that "genre-spanning magic" that made *Sawayama* re-listenable.

> What Sawayama has successfully captured with *Hold the Girl* is the healing power of pop music, and the catharsis that can come just as easily with an arena-ready banger as it can with a feral scream. She gives herself the space to be vulnerable and armored in equal measure, thereby inviting the listener to do the same.
>
> — Mary Siroky on *Hold the Girl*, Consequence of Sound

Rho Chung from *The Skinny* stated that *Hold the Girl* perfects the art of expressing familiar tragedies in a fresh, hopeful, and magnificently powerful way. "It's the sort of music that's perfect for screaming along with in your car – the album is rich, diverse, and emotionally ambitious." Additionally, they felt the album like a mixtape of "familiar sounds from the early aughts, including more country, disco, and psychedelic notes than its predecessor." They concluded: "this album feels like a love letter to Sawayama's younger self. It feels like a promise that joy is coming."

Louise Brailey from *Crack* magazine believes that sometimes the songs feel like they were written by Artificial Intelligence and other times they are "simply a little dull." Brailey gave the album a rating of 6 out of 10, concluding that "this is Rina Sawayama at her most electric on an album that’s otherwise difficult to warm to."

## Album Outtakes

* Missin' Summers
* Hourglass
* EMOtionless

## Studio Personnel

### Musicians

* Rina Sawayama – vocals, programmer
* Clarence Clarity – synthesizer, guitar, programming
* Paul Epworth – synthesizer, drum programming
* Vixen Jamieson – guitar

### Technical

* Rina Sawayama - executive production
* Clarence Clarity – production
* Paul Epworth – production
* Riley MacIntyre – engineering
* Cameron Gower Poole – engineering, vocal production
* Evie Clark-Yospa – engineering
* Jonathan Gilmore – engineering
* Joseph Rodgers – engineering
* Stuart Price – production
* Robin Schmidt – mastering
* Geoff Swan – mixing

### Artwork

* Chester Lockhart – creative direction, design, layout
* Samuel Burgess-Johnson – design, layout
* Thurstan Redding – photography

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/reviews/albums/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl
2. ↑ Greenwood, Douglas (19 April 2021). "Rina Sawayama’s second album is coming". i-D. Retrieved on June 26, 2021.
3. ↑ Langford, Jackson (24 December 2020). "Rina Sawayama Does It All, And Now She’s Ready To Do More". Music Feeds. Retrieved on June 26, 2021.
4. ↑ https://www.numero.com/fr/musique/rina-sawayama-interview-this-hell-hold-the-girl-john-wick-4-charli-xcx-keanu-reeves
5. ↑ Mylrea, Hannah (16 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama: “I didn’t feel ready to write my second album”". *NME*. Retrieved on September 20, 2022.
6. ↑ "Tickets for Rina Sawayama | Galvanizers SWG3". TicketWeb.uk (18 May 2022). Retrieved on May 18, 2022.
7. ↑ Hyland, Veronique (10 June 2022). "Rina Sawayama Talks Upcoming Album 'Hold the Girl'". *Elle*. Retrieved on June 14, 2022.
8. ↑ Kenneally, Cerys (6 May 2021). "Rina Sawayama reveals she’s written “enough amazing new songs for a second album”". *The Line of Best Fit*. Retrieved on June 26, 2021.
9. ↑ Kuga, Mitchell. "Rina Sawayama Is Turning Pop Inside Out: Pride 2021 Cover". *Billboard*. Retrieved on June 26, 2021.
10. ↑ Wally, Maxine (15 February 2022). "Rina Sawayama’s Ultimate Style Icons? Women in Their 40s". *W Magazine*. Retrieved on February 16, 2022.
11. ↑ Rina Sawayama (@rinasonline) (28 March 2022). "Rina Sawayama on Instagram". Retrieved on March 30, 2022. “…the bread is RS2 trying to get finished, the cheese is my next collab dropping…”
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Schütz, Violaine (26 July 2022). "Interview avec Rina Sawayama, la pop star adoubée par Elton John, Charli XCX et Keanu Reeves" (in French). *Numéro*. Retrieved on August 3, 2022.
13. ↑ Reissue announcement on Twitter
14. ↑ Reissue cover on Twitter
15. ↑ Jones, Damian (16 May 2022). "Rina Sawayama announces new album ‘Hold The Girl’ and shares cinematic trailer".
16. ↑ Millar, Mark (28 July 2022). "Multidimensional, British-Japanese pop sensation RINA SAWAYAMA shares the video for new single 'Hold The Girl'". XS Noize. Retrieved on July 28, 2022.
17. ↑ Rina Sawayama (18 May 2022). "Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl". Dirty Hit. Retrieved on May 20, 2022.
18. ↑ Dirty Hit store page for the reissue
19. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Pitchfork`
20. ↑ "Ed Sheeran, Rina Sawayama, & Harry Styles Heat Up BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend [Performances"]. That Grape Juice. Retrieved on May 31, 2022.
21. ↑ Hold the Girl Tour: Reloaded announcement on Twitter
22. ↑ Rina Sawayama - the story of Hold The Girl: Reloaded | RINA TV
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "*Hold the Girl* by Rina Sawayama reviews". Any Decent Music. Retrieved on September 14, 2022.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "*Hold the Girl* by Rina Sawayama Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved on September 14, 2022.
25. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/hold-the-girl-mw0003734723
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl/
27. ↑ https://diymag.com/2022/09/14/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl-album-review
28. ↑ https://thefortyfive.com/opinion/reviews/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl-review/
29. ↑ https://gigwise.com/reviews/3426908/album-review--rina-sawayama---hold-the-girl
30. ↑ https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/albums/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl-sharpens-sound-while-leaving-room-for-experimentation
31. ↑ https://www.loudandquiet.com/reviews/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl/
32. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl/
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20220909154905/https://crackmagazine.net/article/album-reviews/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl-review/
34. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl-1234590594/
35. ↑ https://consequence.net/2022/09/hold-the-girl-album-review-rina-sawayama/2/
36. ↑ https://dbree.org/v/663282
37. ↑ "ホールド・ザ・ガール[CD - リナ・サワヤマ"]. UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN. Retrieved on September 11, 2022.