Hold the Girl (song)

"Hold the Girl"
Single by Rina Sawayama
from the album Hold the Girl
WrittenSeptember 2020
Released27 July 2022
RecordedLate 2020
GenreDance-pop[1]
Length4:05
LabelDirty Hit
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Rina Sawayama
  • Clarence Clarity
Rina Sawayama singles chronology
"Catch Me in the Air"
(2022) 		"Hold the Girl"
(2022) 		"Phantom"
(2022)
Music video
"Hold the Girl" on YouTube

"Hold the Girl" is a song by Japanese singer Rina Sawayama from her second studio album of the same name (2022). It was released through Dirty Hit on 27 July 2022 as the third single from the album.[1]

Background and release

In May 2022, Sawayama announced her second studio album, Hold the Girl was set for release on 2 September 2022.[2] She then proceeded to release the singles "This Hell" and "Catch Me in the Air" in May and June, respectively.[3][4] On July 21, Sawayama posted teasers for the title track on TikTok, with the caption "single out next week". Three days later, on July 24, Sawayama announced that "Hold the Girl" would release three days later on Wednesday, July 27. On the day of the song's release, she announced that the album would be pushed back from 2 September to 16 September due to "production issues", however promised a fourth single would be published before then.[5]

Composition

"Hold the Girl" is a "typically ambitious, multi-faceted pop song, addressing both the trauma and catharsis of moving forward in life. The song was written in late 2020 after an intense therapy session."[1] Writing for Rolling Stone UK, Hannah Ewens wrote that "Hold the Girl" sees Sawayama singing with 2000s R&B vocals and "opens like a holy gesture to Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' and becomes an emotional dancefloor filler".[6]

Music video

An accompanying music video for "Hold the Girl" was released on 3 August 2022 and sees Sawayama "stuck in a time loop within the bounds of a 19th century farmhouse until she finally breaks free."[7]

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for "Hold the Girl"
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Japan (Japan Hot 100)[8] 91

References

  1. ^ a b c Neale, Matthew (27 July 2022). "Rina Sawayama shares anthemic new single 'Hold The Girl'". NME. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Hold The Girl The new album September 2 2022". Twitter. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Rina Sawayama shares euphoric new single 'This Hell' and UK tour dates". NME. 18 May 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Rina Sawayama releases new single Catch Me In The Air". Evening Standard. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Hold The Girl the title track from my new album this is where it all began out now PS album date is moving back to September 16 due to production issues ! but I've added another single release so ur fed". Twitter. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  6. ^ Ewens, Hannah (30 May 2022). "Rina Sawayama: holding herself tight". Rolling Stone UK. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Watch Rina Sawayama break free from 19th century time loop in 'Hold The Girl' video". NME. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100 – Week of September 21, 2022". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 September 2022.