In her brand new Rolling Stone UK cover interview, British-Japanese pop star Rina Sawayama has revealed that Hold The Girl album track 'Catch Me in the Air' was inspired by Irish outfit The Corrs.

According to the London-based singer-songwriter, she wanted a Corrs song as if pitched to Gwen Stefani: “I had ‘catch me in the air’ written down as a note already,” says Sawayama. “From the pre-chorus to the chorus I wanted to have that feeling of a lift, as though you’re jumping off a cliff into crystal-clear water.”

The song celebrates her connection with her mother.

“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.”

To aid the production process, pictures of what she wanted 'Catch Me in the Air' to sound like to producer Stuart Price.

“It was someone meditating on the edge of the cliff, it was seagulls, it was someone on a pier, it was Irish coastline, waves hitting,” she remembers. “And he absolutely nailed it – it does sound like that.”

The Corrs' album Talk On Corners was the biggest-selling album of 1998 in the UK. The family band is one of only a handful of acts who have held the top two positions simultaneously in the UK album charts, with Talk on Corners at number one and Forgiven, Not Forgotten at number two. The latter was the year's third highest selling album in Australia. Their third studio album, In Blue, went to number one in seventeen countries.

Sawayama is returning to Dublin this year as part of her Hold The Girl tour on Saturday, October 15th in the 3Olympia Theatre. She played a sold out show at Dublin's Academy earlier this year.

Revisit her June 2020 chat with Hot Press here.

Hold The Girl arrives on September 2nd, 2022 via Dirty Hit. Listen to her new single 'This Hell' below.

In 2020, Rina’s debut album SAWAYAMA became one of the most critically acclaimed albums that year landing on over 50 album of the year lists from the world's biggest tastemakers.

The last 18 months have seen Rina Sawayama achieve a magnitude of milestones including changing the Mercury Prize and BRITs eligibility rules which meant non-British artists could apply if they have been a permanent resident in the UK for more than 5 years.

In 2021, Elton John joined forces with the pop star to release a special rendition of her track 'Chosen Family', a powerful and emotional ode to her LGBTQ+ family. Elsewhere Rina injected new life into Lady Gaga’s instant club classic 'Free Woman'.

2023 will see Rina in her film acting debut as she stars in John Wick 4 alongside Keanu Reeves.