Rina Sawayama - Sawayama album Reviews

Sawayama (stylised in all caps) is the debut studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama, released on 17 April 2020. It is a follow up to her independently released debut mini album Rina. Genre(s): Pop/Rock

  1. New Musical Express (NME)
    Apr 16, 2020
    100
    From the raucous nu-metal to glittering R&B, ‘SAWAYAMA’ is an honest, genre-exploding self-portrait.
  2. Q Magazine
    Apr 15, 2020
    100
    Perspicacious and personal, cool and colossally enjoyable, Sawayama is both a triumph over trauma and a paean to the power of effervescent pop in practically all its forms. [Jun 2020, p.98]
  3. Consequence of Sound
    May 4, 2020
    91
    SAWAYAMA appears poised to be one of the best pop albums of the year and sets Sawayama up as a pop force to be reckoned with.
  4. Clash Music
    Apr 15, 2020
    90
    Raw artistry paired with rich heritage makes for a magnificent, spine-tingling first album for Rina Sawayama.
  5. The Line of Best Fit
    Apr 15, 2020
    90
    Ultimately, this deftly intelligent record takes personal and musical themes, and presents them in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s ever been done before. Rina Sawayama is one-of-a-kind, and her debut album certainly isn’t going to be quiet about that.
  6. Paste Magazine
    Apr 16, 2020
    85
    Sawayama is an exhilarating reminder of a bygone time when boy bands ruled all and commercialism ruled the boy bands. That era is long gone, but that particular brand of maximalist pop is back, only better now than before.
  7. Rolling Stone
    Apr 17, 2020
    80
    Combining crunchy nu-metal guitar riffs with a penchant for early-aughts R&B-pop production in the vein of Aaliyah and ‘NSync, Sawayama sounds like Britney Spears’ Blackout by way of Korn — and it inexplicably works.
  8. The Independent (UK)
    Apr 16, 2020
    80
    Rina’s mini album may have marked her out as one to watch, but SAWAYAMA stakes her claim as one of the boldest voices in pop today.
  9. DIY Magazine
    Apr 16, 2020
    80
    It’s a smart pop record that’s doused in self-awareness but still direct in its assertiveness - and never not compelling.
  10. The Skinny
    Apr 15, 2020
    80
    This is a carefully crafted, complex pop record that benefits from the production contributions of industry heavyweights like Nicole Morier (Britney), but undeniably it’s the new-fangled delivery and star appeal of Rina Sawayama that gives this album its sparkling essence.
  11. Pitchfork
    Apr 20, 2020
    77
    Most of the album, though, is absolutely irony-free, and better for it.
  12. Beats Per Minute
    Apr 21, 2020
    76
    While there are some tracks that could have been expended, that just wouldn’t be Rina’s style. She’s here to express her excessive, melodramatic, fun-loving, pain-harbouring persona in every single different way she can, without holding anything back – and SAWAYAMA should be celebrated for that.
  13. Under The Radar
    Apr 30, 2020
    75
    The album is a complicated picture of Swayama’s past, present, and future. It is rare to see a debut album with such a fully realized voice and vision behind it. What’s more, she exorcises her personal demons amid some of the year’s best dancefloor-filling pop.

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