[DID NOT ATTEND: May 7, 2022] Rina Sawayama / Hana
Rina Sawayama is a fascinating pop star. She is British-Japanese and has an amazing voice. She is also comfortable embracing all genres.
At the time of this show her second album has not been released yet, but her first album Sawayama embraced all kinds of genres in each song. There’s aggressively pop singing with incredible hooks and then some hugely metal guitars. “STFU!” was massively metal with a swooping pop center.
It was fun to imagine that her live show would be a riot.
As one reviewer wrote:
As Sawayama kept up with multiple outfit changes, an onstage thunderstorm and memorable choreography, her voice remained a beacon of light.
This show sold out at the TLA long before I had even heard of her. It was moved to the Fillmore where it also sold out.
Hana is yet another pop singer who is going by one name (Do we blame Adele for this?). And, boy Hana is a hard one to search for (her full name Hana Gabrielle Pestle).
I hadn’t heard of her, and she hasn’t released a lot (she is also a producer). But there are some remarkable reviews about her debut EP (on some random site):
Hana possesses two elements that many artists in the general realm of dream/synth/alternative pop do not: an incredibly powerful voice, and a strong foundation of low frequencies in her music.
This voice could easily rival the Beyonces and Katy Perrys of this world, were that to be her ambition, with a vast range and immense strength, and yet an intelligent sense of when to restrain and when to let loose. She can do airy, almost whispered tones to match any of her more dreamy peers, as shown on ‘Avalanche’, but she can also command incredible auditory presence, as on ‘Underwater’.
So we’ll call her dream pop and see if she opens for anyone else in the future.
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