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Rina Sawayama is back.
In 2024, the multi-hyphenate talent took a step back from the spotlight to recalibrate. Now, she’s gearing up to release her highly anticipated third studio album, reprising her role as Shimazu
Akira in the John Wick spinoff “Caine” and set to have a recurring role in Apple TV’s “Prodigies” alongside Ayo Edibiri and Will Sharpe.
As she gears up for 2027, she’s been named Haku Vodka’s inaugural Brand Ambassador. Alongside the announcement, the brand also launched its first campaign titled “Made to Shine,” celebrating “individuality and ingenuity,” all while “encouraging people to look beyond the familiar.” The partnership kicked off with an exclusive launch party earlier this week, and Sawayama collaborated with the team on everything from creative direction to the craft vodka cocktail menu.
Haku: The Japanese Craft Vodka
Ahead of the event, Variety sat down with Sawayama to talk new music, overcoming burnout and her essentials for when she’s on the go:
After taking time away, what all has gone into this, and how has it come together in this moment?
I took time away starting in 2024. I just felt so overwhelmed and pretty exhausted. It’s this weird thing where every day, you’re doing something incredible, like a mind-blowing dream come true, yet the more I pushed myself to do a month with no break — as in no weekend for several weeks — because every opportunity was exciting, the more I lost sensation. Physical sensation, emotional sensitivity, I just lost it. When I took time off, I decided that I was going to move countries, so I moved to Tokyo, a city I’ve not lived in for 30 years, and I just wanted to see what came.
I don’t know if you’ve ever had burnout, but it’s just this weird multisymptomatic thing. What resulted from that is interesting because I think by regaining that feeling, I was able to trace back through my own personal history and draw things from there. Connections between different emotions that feel quite unrelated, and, really, the record is about the one emotion that ties it all together. It’s an exploration of that. I’m trying to transmute whether it’s poetry or a speech that I’ve read into music, and, at the same time, trying to honor a real legacy of activism. I’m trying to be part of the living legacy of that activism in my own way. It was invaluable to take that break, and I feel really grateful that I was able to, and that my fans are still interested in the music.
As you worked through your burnout, was there a moment where you thought, “I’m back, and can feel this again,” or was it more of a slow burn?
That’s a good question. To be honest, I didn’t think I would return to doing music for about six months to a year. There was a time, fresh out of that burnout feeling, that I didn’t think I could do it. I felt like I couldn’t write the music. I felt like I couldn’t promote the music. I felt like I just wanted to do live music, but what am I going to do if there’s no music and if there’s no promotion?
I guess it was no single event. It was… slow. So slow. One day I’d want to try again, and then the next day I’d feel like I couldn’t write music, and there was just this two-year-long battle with writer’s block. But it’s actually doing that and training the muscle of doing and showing up for the art when you fucking don’t want to, that actually trained me to love the art again. I’d written about 30 to 40 songs, I think, when I was like, “Oh, I love this again.”
How did your partnership with Haku come to be?
They approached me, and they’d never had an ambassador. At the time, I’d not tried vodka before, so they let me try it, and I genuinely loved it. Suntory is a house with such a legacy. Obviously, the whiskey commercials are something of a cultural phenomenon. They also let me be part of the creative process, with the event and the cocktails that we’ve made.
What does the collaborative creative process look like?
They wanted to do a launch party. I said I want to be involved in the cocktails, and I really want to make sure that we’re getting Japanese DJs, and honoring the fact that it’s a Japanese brand, I’m a Japanese ambassador, and that the bridge between the West and the East is happening in a way that’s respectful.
Are there any artists you think do a good job at bridging that gap between the West and the East?
Definitely Mitski. [She] is the first artist that comes to mind. I just think she’s so authentic, and she really is such an artist. I really look up to her. Another person is Naomi Osaka. She’s not an artist, but what she does is amazingly brave and really inspiring. To be bold on the court like that and come out in those outfits is really cool.
From working on new music to being on set for both “Caine” and “Prodigies,” you’ve been busy. What are your essentials for when you’re on set or in the studio?
Oh my god, I love this question. People don’t realize I’m so anal. First of all, I have a million notebooks. I can never do a small purse. I have several Moleskines, and I love [them] because you can buy them anywhere in the world. If I run out, I can literally go to the shop and buy it. I have my pen that I like and buy refills for. It’s a pen that I know I can get in Japan. It’s like, again, so anal. I usually have my Stanley Cup [laughs].
Moleskine
Wait, what color?
I have like five different ones. I have like two in each country. It’s so stupid at this point. I don’t know what it is. It’s obviously tied to my childhood, but I just love it.
Stanley Cup
What about packing essentials?
In my wardrobe, I have my underwear and socks already in these Muji fabric boxes so that if I’m going on a trip, I just take them out and put them in a suitcase. I also pack the stuff with the hangers. Easy. I never wear as many outfits as I think I’m going to wear, so that space is taken up by hangers instead.
What else are my travel essentials? Fuck… I mean, I think the notebooks. I just have so many fucking notebooks. I have [one] for every aspect of my life, and if I start a new project or anything like that, then I have a separate [one]. I will have one non-fiction book, a poetry book and my Kindle for the books I love at home but are too heavy to bring. It’s not ideal. I’m so crazy.
Kindle
What are you currently reading?
My Goodreads account is popping off. I have close friends on [the app], and it’s like the only social media I really use. I am currently reading “Dawn” by Octavia Butler. I read “Parable of the Sower” and really liked that. If anyone wants to buy me a present, if you buy a book you’re fine. I’ll like it.
