It looks like rising future-pop star Rina Sawayama is done being told to “STFU” and finally giving fans the news that they’ve been waiting for.
On Friday (Jan. 17), Sawayama announced the release of her long-awaited debut album, Sawayama. Due April 17 via Dirty Hit, the album promises to be the star’s most personal offering to date, as the singer navigates cultural dynamics, familial discord and much more. In a statement released with the news, Sawayama said she wanted to create an album that paints a full picture of herself, even if the picture is a little messy. “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,” she wrote.
To celebrate the news, Sawayama also shared her latest single from the album, titled “Comme Des Garçons (Like the Boys)”, a pulsating disco-dance track that sees the rising star claiming her place as the badass she knows she is. “Excuse my ego, can’t go incognito/ Every time you see me it’s like winning big in Reno,” she spits.
Trending on Billboard
Sawayama said in a statement that she wanted to emulate the confidence she’s seen exhibited by gay men around the world, rather than taking on the more toxic view of their straight counterparts. “I wanted on one hand to lyrically explore the idea of people having to adopt negative male tropes to appear confident, whilst on the other sonically paying homage to the early 2000s dance tracks that made me feel confident,” she said. “I wanted to sit these two together and make a club fashion banger that makes you feeling like THAT bitch whoever you are.”
Following her announcement, on Wednesday (Feb. 26), Sawayama dropped her video for “Comme Des Garçons.” Throughout the clip, Sawayama (dressed in stereotypically male clothing) is seen being scanned and examined in a space-age lab, before transforming into a high fashion look and being literally propped up by throngs of men surrounding her in a multicolored landscape.
In a statement released with the new video, the singer said that she wanted to explore not just masculinity, but its performance in society. “Male confidence can quite often be a performance – in the media, in the workplace, in movies, in music and that’s what I wanted to explore with this video with Eddie (Wheelan, the video’s director) and Ben (Ditto, the video’s creative director).”
Check out Rina Sawayama’s new track “Comme Des Garçons (Like the Boys)” below, along with the upcoming tracklist for Sawayama:
Sawayama track list:
1. “Dynasty”
2. “XS”
3. “STFU!”
4. “Comme des Garçons (Like The Boys)”
5. “Akasaka Sad”
6. “Paradisin'”
7. “Love Me 4 Me”
8. “Bad Friend”
9. “F— This World (Interlude)”
10. “Who’s Gonna Save U Now?”
11. “Tokyo Love Hotel”
12. “Chosen Family”
13. “Snakeskin”