STFU! – the lead single – is similarly audacious. Blending metal and 2000s pop, Rina creates a fiery song, unleashing her pent-up anger towards the microaggressions she faces as a Japanese-British woman. The robust electric guitar instrumental can only be done justice when blasted at full volume.
Both
Akasaka Sad explore intergenerational depression: “the pain in my veins is hereditary”.
Akasaka Sad sees Rina pay homage to her Japanese heritage, singing in Japanese and English. Instrumentally, this song is substandard, with an over-repetitive trip-hop chorus. The album’s closing song,
Snakeskin, also falls into this same, slightly jarring trap. However, lyrically, it’s a strong ending, as Rina uses the metaphor of a snakeskin to reveal how she’s shedding the trauma identified on earlier tracks.