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CMU Approved
Approved: Rina Sawayama
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 4 February 2016
Rina Sawayama is not what you’d call prolific – she’s released four tracks since 2013, and the latest, ‘Where U Are’, is a cover.
Though unless you’re told it’s a rework of ‘I Wanna Be Where You Are’ from Michael Jackson’s 1972 debut solo album ‘Got To Be There’, I don’t think you’d guess. Wallowing in rich, soulful R&B, she twists the track into an assessment of love in the internet age (continuing themes explored on last year’s ‘Tunnel Vision’).
“Online you can present your best edited self, and bypass lots of the messiness and awkwardness that comes with real human interactions”, she says. “Your overheating phone substitutes human warmth. Weirdest of all, you’re together, but also very alone”.
Listen to ‘Where U Are’ here:
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