Rina Sawayama’s debut album Sawayama is right around the corner, releasing on April 17 via Dirty Hit. Today, she shared the last single before the album’s drop, an anthem dedicated to the LGBTQ community. Sawayama herself identifies as pansexual, once telling Broadly “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.” Speaking of the track’s inspiration, Sawayama said:
”’Chosen Family’ is a very special song for me. The concept of a chosen family is, to me, a queer one – people are often kicked out of their homes or ostracized by their family, friends, and community after coming out. This can be an incredibly painful experience that can be remedied by finding a new ‘chosen’ family. The chorus lyrics ‘We don’t need to be related to relate, we don’t need to share genes or a surname’ is an invitation for anyone that feels that sense of otherness to find their chosen family, where they can truly be themselves and feel loved. I dedicate this song to my queer friends who I now consider family – it’s essentially a big thank you to them, as I love them so much and I genuinely don’t think I would be alive right now if it weren’t for them.”
The track was produced by PC Music affiliate Danny L Harle, who last year acted as executive producer on Caroline Polachek’s debut album Pang. The track finds Sawayama drawing on ’90s balladry, sounding particularly like early Christina Aguilera. Over a warped guitar, Sawayama belts out, “So what if we don’t look the same / We been going through the same pain,” showing off her impressive vocal ability which often skirts between the flirtatious timbre of Britney Spears to Aguilera’s diva-esque depth. Sawayama continues to carve a space out for herself among the retinue of modern pop obsessives.
You can listen to the track below and find the single art further down.
“Chosen Family” Single Art
