Fresh off the release of her new single ‘This Hell,’ Rina Sawayama is ready to take over the world with her upcoming album ‘Hold The Girl.’

On her journey to do so, the rising pop superstar is the latest singer to cover the covet Rolling Stone UK. 

Lensed by Marcus Cooper, she does not hold back, giving a compelling interview that dishes on such topics as being inspired by Taylor Swift, her new music, competition in the industry and so much more.

Peep more pics and quotes from the shoot below….

On being inspired by Taylor Swift:

“I remember when Taylor Swift released ‘Folklore,’ I was like, ‘This b**ch is writing about fake stories and she just wrote a whole album. If she can do it, I need to do it.’”

On her upcoming song ‘Catch Me in the Air’:

“It’s about how we’ve kind of caught each other in the air at different times in our lives, and how intense single parenthood can be. Just celebrating that partnership because when you [have] a single mum, they’re your sister and your child at the same time. Just writing about the complications of that from an adult perspective.”

On competition in the music industry:

“I personally don’t like to think that there’s competition in the music industry with girls in my field now. It’s easy to start to buy into that narrative so much that if you don’t do this, someone else will. But I try not to engage in that any more.”

On her newfound fame:

“Before the pandemic, no one recognized me ever, I could just go out in the streets looking like sh*t and now it’s very, very different. I actually had to go back into talk therapy when I first started getting recognized because of the anxiety of not seeing anyone, almost getting agoraphobia by not leaving the house. People have nice intentions and want to come so close to you and hug you, but it was completely freaking me out.”

Sawayama’s new album, ‘Hold The Girl’ is set to arrive on September 2 and will serve as the follow-up to her acclaimed ‘Sawayama’ album. It featured notable tracks like ‘Tokyo Love Hotel,’ ‘Bad Friend,’ ‘XS,’ ‘Dynasty,’ and more.

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[Photo Credit: Rolling Stone UK / Marcus Cooper]