Rina Sawayama
Brit awards: all-male best artist category reveals wider music industry sickness
Out of the 71 acts eligible for the gender-neutral award, only 13 were female or non-binary. The dearth exposes the British industry’s inability to develop anyone but young men
Laura Snapes
16, Jan, 2023 @3:14 PM
Brit awards 2023: Wet Leg and Harry Styles lead male-dominated nominations
In the second year of non-gendered categories, the five nominees for artist of the year are entirely male
Laura Snapes
12, Jan, 2023 @4:30 PM
Rina Sawayama: Hold the Girl review – poetry, power and pure pop
The British-Japanese star dials down the jarring fusion of her debut on a set of beautifully crafted out-and-out hits
Kitty Empire
17, Sep, 2022 @1:00 PM
Pop iconoclast Rina Sawayama: ‘Drag is turning trauma into entertainment. That’s what I’m doing’
The British-Japanese pop star’s genre-mashing second album is the product of her hard-won self-knowledge. She talks about reckoning with her Asian identity, forgiving her mother and her determination to be happy
Rachel Aroesti
29, Jul, 2022 @5:00 AM
The Guide #24: how metal bands dared to go soft
In this week’s newsletter: it’s a music genre that used to be all about doom and thrash – but in 2022 you’re lucky if there’s even a riff in the mix
Gwilym Mumford
04, Mar, 2022 @11:50 AM
Rina Sawayama review – superstar status cemented by pop’s politician
Albert Hall, Manchester
The British-Japanese singer finally performs the debut album she released during lockdown – and it’s a triumph of satire, chaotic genre-splicing and LGBTQ+ solidarity
The British-Japanese singer finally performs the debut album she released during lockdown – and it’s a triumph of satire, chaotic genre-splicing and LGBTQ+ solidarity
Fergal Kinney
10, Nov, 2021 @3:21 PM
Brit awards: Griff wins 2021 Rising Star award
Hertfordshire pop songwriter beats Pa Salieu and Rina Sawayama to gong previously given to Sam Smith and Adele
Laura Snapes
19, Mar, 2021 @9:27 AM
Griff, Pa Salieu and Rina Sawayama nominated for Brits Rising Star
A nomination for Sawayama, born in Japan but with indefinite leave to remain in the UK, reflects the BPI’s recent change in definition of British artists
Laura Snapes
11, Mar, 2021 @12:01 AM
Non-British citizens now eligible for Brit awards and Mercury prize
Artists who have been permanently resident in the UK for five years will qualify for British categories
Ben Beaumont-Thomas
24, Feb, 2021 @7:57 PM
The 50 best albums of 2020: the full list
Our countdown is complete, topped by a mercurial work of sprawling invention by a woman who has dug deep to survive. Taken as a whole, these choices contain drama, solace, poetry and fire, a fitting selection for a turbulent year
Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes
18, Dec, 2020 @8:07 AM
Pop in 2020: an escape into disco, folklore and nostalgia
Amid the chaos of the pandemic and with the future so uncertain, the pop music that resonated was glittery, danceable and comfortingly familiar
Alexis Petridis
17, Dec, 2020 @2:36 PM
The 50 best albums of 2020, No 3: Rina Sawayama – Sawayama
Sawayama picks her way through formative musical loves to produce a risk-taking musical cocktail of R&B, goth rock and video game soundtracks
Alexis Petridis
16, Dec, 2020 @6:00 AM
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