Tokyo pop punk artist Sarina explores her various formative experiences and emotions on her multi-faceted new EP Break Out!!
Since her emergence in 2022, Toyko pop punk artist Sarina is somebody who has been winning over swathes of admirers and fans thanks to her fun and engrossing sound and the heartfelt and relatable nature of her often vulnerable lyrics that surround themes like formative experiences and coming of age in a way that feels relatable and authentic to listeners.
The artist’s dynamic new EP Break Out!! is a great showcase of everything that makes for artist feel so exciting and memorable, and from the second that the crunching riffs of ‘Living in the Moment’ kick in you are instantly transported to the colourful and exciting world that the artist has created within the release. The track’s upbeat nature and infectiously catchy choruses are packed full of soaring charm and heart, and provide a really rousing message of living for today and not letting things just pass you by.
The frenetic and chaotic nature of recent single ‘Skip a Beat’ continues to showcase the attitude and sheer fun feel of the artist, utilising its bouncy energy and relentlessly sunny nature to disguise a more nuanced narrative about not really feeling like the right fit for someone despite all of the ways that they try to convince you otherwise.
Things slow down a little on ‘Don’t wanna break your <3’, a track that showcases the most thoughtful side of the artist’s sound, eschewing the fast-paced fist-in-the-air choruses for a more laid-back and narrative-led approach that sees the artist delving into her feelings as she unfortunately has to break off a relationship.
Things pick right back up where they left off on the riffy and anthemic ‘Artist with an E’, with the artist’s incredible consistency for crafting instantly memorable and catchy pop punk sounds growing borderline unbelievable at this point. It is this marriage of thoughtful writing and lyrics and effortlessly catchy sounds that makes every track on the album, even on tracks like this one where she delves into subjects like “bullshit” artists and pretentiousness.
This yin and yang of the artist’s sound is once again explored on the endlessly emotive and moving ‘Hold me’, a track that sees the artist again showing her most vulnerable side as she delves into her innermost feelings and worries, lamenting her wasted potential, all of the things that she could have been, and whether she will ever be enough. The rawness of this track feels striking and impactful throughout, and makes for a truly sobering and powerful listening experience.
‘Why am I so sad?!’ is a track that sounds like it could be a similar sombre experience but instead features the artist taking the way that she often feels sad for no discernible reason and channels it into an anthemic and explosive pop punk riot of a track that feels tailored to blowing these blues away. I always think that these kinds of tracks are important as they offer listeners and young people going through similar experiences a chance to feel seen and less alone, and the upbeat slant that the track puts on it makes for rousing and empowering listening.
The EP closes out with ‘I know nothing’, a track that feels like a message of acceptance for all of the things that the artist will never truly understand about the world and why things happen the way that they do. We know very little about anything, and that’s completely fine, things will happen that we won’t understand or that won’t make any sense and that is just how life is. The stripped-back nature of the sound and the charming and affable nature of the artist’s vocal delivery makes for a really engrossing and likeable track that leaves the EP on a really nice and positive message, rounding off a collection of tracks full of trials and tribulations in a really satisfying and warm way.
