The Bite Magazine - Spring 2019 - Issue 24

NEW SINGLE RELEASES W hether in its original glittery form or the acoustic version in celebration of International Women’s Day, London-based pop futurist Rina Sawayama doesn’t disap- point in her performance.The impassioned new visual of the acoustic ‘Cherry’ directed by Jake Gabbay and shot in the darkenedYouTube Space London sees the singer giving a breath-taking performance that showcases the emotional nostalgia of the song.‘Cherry’ is the second release from the singer in 2018 since her mini-album RINA dropped last year. With both versions of the song dynamic, the stripped-back piano version draws you in as you listen to Rina pour her heart out over a love that has made her feel things that she has never felt before while the more popsy video seems to have her more in control and enjoying this newfound emotion, while keeping it real. She has been described by The Fader as “making the pop world more relatable” and by i-D Magazine as making “sugar-coated R&B with meaning for the digital age.” Talking about the single ‘Cherry’ to Broadly UK Editor ZingTsjeng in August 2018, the singer explained,“I’ve always written songs about girls. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned a guy in my songs, and that’s why I wanted to talk about it. For me there’s still a lack of representa- tion. I just think the reason why I wasn’t so comfortable with my sexuality was because there was no one on TV or anywhere that I could point at and go,‘Look mum! This person is what I was talking about.’” Last year was a good one for Rina. As well as gracing the covers of Clash Magazine and Sunday Times Style Magazine, she closed out 2018 by wrapping up her lively Ordinary SuperstarTour, which spanned across the United States and Europe before concluding with a sold- out homecoming show at London’s Heaven. In March she performed at Annie Mac’s AMP event at the Moth Club in London and will be going on to perform at theAll Points festival in May. The singer is currently working on her debut album and is set for a meteoric rise in 2019, as she continues to refine pop music in her own image and open the genre up to more voices like hers. bite new music Image courtesy of Satellite 414 Rina Sawayama CHERRY