XS
Rina Sawayama
"XS" arrives fully costumed. Rina Sawayama built the track as deliberate excess — a glam-rock production draped in distorted guitars, massive drums, and a chorus sized for arenas, all in service of a song explicitly about overconsumption and the emptiness at its center. The arrangement is theatrical to the point of camp, and that theatrical quality is the point: the song satirizes want by enacting it, performing maximalism as critique of maximalism. Sawayama's voice is suited to this register — technically controlled but performatively huge, capable of both the precision required for the verses and the full-throated release the chorus demands. She sings about wanting more with the hunger of someone who already has everything and can't stop, and the slightly unhinged pleasure in her delivery refuses to let the satire feel smug. "XS" emerged from her debut album in 2020, which positioned her at the intersection of J-pop, Y2K nostalgia, and PC Music's hyperpop-inflected aesthetics — a record that announced she had no interest in playing it safe. This is music for getting dressed before a night out, for reclaiming the joy of surfaces and spectacle, for the specific pleasure of wanting something completely frivolous and wanting it loudly.
fast
2020s
dense, bright, theatrical
British-Japanese pop, Y2K nostalgia, PC Music hyperpop aesthetic
Pop, Rock. Glam Rock. euphoric, playful. Escalates from controlled, sharp desire into full unhinged excess, performing overconsumption as both satire and genuine pleasure simultaneously.. energy 9. fast. danceability 8. valence 8. vocals: controlled female, theatrically huge, precise in verses, full-throated in chorus. production: distorted guitars, massive arena drums, maximalist, Y2K-inflected, hyperpop-adjacent. texture: dense, bright, theatrical. acousticness 1. era: 2020s. British-Japanese pop, Y2K nostalgia, PC Music hyperpop aesthetic. Getting dressed before a night out, reclaiming the specific joy of wanting something completely frivolous and wanting it loudly.