London-via-Japan singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama exists at the unlikely intersection of '90s R&B, J-Pop visuals and astute commentary on contemporary cyber-culture. In her 2016 music video for "Where U Are", she tellingly opens a hardcover copy of MIT Professor (of the Social Studies of Science and Technology) Sherry Turkle's to reveal the true focus of her attention: a smartphone. Like Turkle, Sawayama does not view our prevalent obsessions with screens and apps and social networks in purely dystopian terms. Both acknowledge the banalities, loneliness, and isolation that can accompany most electronic interactions - but they also note its ability to create different (and possibly empowering) forms of identities, and to engender different kinds of intimacy and social support systems. "Where U Are", a reworking of The Jackson 5’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are”, comes across as nostalgic, understatedly sultry and even somewhat romantic - even though Sawayama eventually arrives at an illusion-shattering conclusion: 'Funny how together we're alone/ Thought you were the one but I was wrong'.
"Cyber Stockholm Syndrome", the lead single from her debut EP Rina (released on October 27), presents a similarly multi-faceted perspective on our tendency to gravitate towards our screens and online personas. The production on the song's chorus, by Clarence Clarity and Hoost, presents the kind of liberatory, self-fulfilling rush that dance music and disco often aspire to. Against glitchy samples and uptempo acoustic drums, Sawayama depicts her cyber fantasies as an exhilarating dopamine-inducing ride: 'Now you see her flying hi-speed/ Across the distant galaxy/ Candy cane your heart out/ Burn bright, don't burn out'. In her interview with , she acknowledged the duality she aimed to depict in the song. On one hand, there's the beauty, optimism, and freedom of the digital world, with its "vital support networks, voices of solidarity, refuge, escape". On the other, the anxiety and pessimism that triggers the need for respite from offline life: 'And she said/ I'm not here for love tonight/ The way you touch just don't feel right/ Used to feeling things so cold/ Cyber Stockholm Syndrome'. It is alright to 'party on your phone' on your own, but there will always be the sense that something is amiss.
Sawayama herself is no prisoner to her smartphone screen, even though she has chosen to call all her newfound fans 'Pixels'. In her interviews, the University of Cambridge politics graduate expresses an acute awareness of the issues of race, culture, and gender that are inescapable in real life. She aspires to use her position in the modeling industry to make a positive impact on Asian girls by challenging stereotypes. When these extramusical concerns take shape in her music in a meaningful way, this bicultural digital star has a strong chance of making a lasting impact - online and IRL.
