If you can't love yourself, how are you going to love somebody else?

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Best Albums of 2020 list...

#3 : Sawayama - Rina Sawayama

If you were forced to describe Rina Sawayama’s debut as succinctly as possible, you’d probably opt for a pop/R&B/nu-metal hybrid with a dose of stadium-rock bombast, which sounds like the most appalling generic fusion in musical history. But that doesn’t account for the skill with which Sawayama picks her way through her formative musical loves, and how adept she is at arranging them as dynamically explosive contrasts. It turns out to be one of 2020’s most striking and unique pop albums, the kind of risk-taking debut that gets you excited at what the artist behind it might come up with next.

This is another album about which I had no previous knowledge - and from the description above, I was expecting a bit of a mess.  And if I'm being honest, that's pretty much what we've got here - but it's a very well put-together, confident mess.  If I was forced to describe it, I'd add to the horror by saying "Lady Gaga crossed with Limp Bizkit, with some classic Madonna moments thrown in for good measure" - and I can see exactly how likely that is to draw people in.

It would also be easy for it to come across as bombastic, but there are moments of fun in there which suggests she doesn't take herself too seriously - I must admit to giggling at "STFU" ("Have you ever thought of taping your big mouth shut?  Coz I have.  Many times").  I found myself enjoying most of the tracks even whilst marvelling at the messiness of it all - "STFU" and "Who's Gonna Save U Now?" jumped out as highlights amongst a strong field for me.

WIkipedia doesn't have a lot to say about the album other than "Woah - there's a LOAD of different genres in there" - one of the comments mentions Evanescence, which was another group that popped up in my thoughts at times whilst I was listening to it.  "Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of - and Charli XCX and FKA Twigs, neither of whom seem like particularly close touchpoints to me.

This album strikes me as more likely than most on this list to be something that would be absolutely loved by someone that hadn't previously discovered it, so if any of the horrendous attempts to describe it above strike a chord with you then I suggest you give a try.  If I remember it (which is often a struggle given my advancing years) then I'd be quite happy to go back to it - I suspect it would improve with each listen.

#4 - An odd one
#2 - Comfortably clear of the rest of the field for me