Rina Sawayama made her long-awaited US television debut last night on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Flanked by a team of dancers with bejewelled face masks, the British singer-songwriter served choreo, face and vocals as she performed XS, taken from her critically-acclaimed self-titled debut album.
Rina’s performance was met with praise from critics and fans, becoming a worldwide trending topic on Twitter.
One stan called it the “performance of the year” while another tweeted of the star: “A superstar is born. A legend has enter the building. Everyone get the fuck out of her way… A new queen has landed on the throne!”
Although XS is a 2000s-inspired track that takes influence from classic R&B anthems, it’s grounded in present day, tackling issues such as capitalism and climate change.
The hilarious music video reflects the song, as Rina plays a glamorous robotic (and soon to be malfunctioning) saleswoman trying to flog her new RINA water on a parody shopping channel (you can watch the video here).
In a statement, Rina said XS is a “song that mocks capitalism in a sinking world” and that her aim was to draw attention to how “global climate change is accelerating and human extinction is a very real possibility within our lifetime”.
She explained: “I wanted to reflect the chaos of this post-truth climate change denying world in the metal guitar stabs that flare up like an underlying zit between the 2000s R&B beat that reminds you of a time when everything was alright.”
XS is one of five singles from Rina’s debut collection, SAWAYAMA, following the nu-metal-inspired banger STFU!, pulsating club anthem Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys), LGBTQ+ anthem Chosen Family and the heartfelt bop Bad Friend.
You can watch Rina Sawayama’s performance of XS on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon here or below.
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