Talking Tastebuds

Rina Sawayama (she/her) is a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and one of the most exciting artists to break through from last year. Born in Japan and raised in London, Rina’s music confronts the issues of identity and conflict with a wild blend of nineties and early noughties influences - everything from Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera to Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani, to Evanescence and Limp Bizkit. Rina’s been singing since she was little, but took her first official steps into the music world by joining a hip-hop group at school with Wolf Alice’s Theo Ellis. She broke into the public eye in 2017 with her self-titled EP and in 2018, she released the sex-positive ‘Cherry’, which served as a public declaration of her pansexuality. After finishing a tour with kindred alternative pop spirit Charli XCX, Sawayama signed with Dirty Hit (also home to The 1975) and in April 2020, released her genre-defying debut album ‘Sawayama’. Rolling Stone called it a "thrilling musical adventure" and Elton John pr