SASAMI has announced her new album, Squeeze, due out February 25th via Domino. As a preview, she has also shared a pair of lead singles: “The Greatest” and “Skin a Rat.”
Spanning 11 tracks, Squeeze is partially inspired by the Japanese yōkai folk spirit called Nure-onna (translation: wet woman), a vampiric deity that has the head of a woman and the body of a snake. The album’s eclectic sound varies between nu metal, country pop, folk rock, and classical music while drawing inspiration from artists ranging from System of a Down to Sheryl Crow and Fleetwood Mac to Bach and Mahler.
Intended to help listeners process their “anger, frustration, desperation, and more violent, aggressive emotions,” Squeeze was constructed as an opera or orchestral work containing different “movements” that make up each part of an emotional journey. SASAMI hopes marginalized folks, including femmes, BIPOC, and queer people, can find catharsis from the oppression and violence that they experience while listening to the LP.
The power ballad “The Greatest” and nu metal-influenced “Skin a Rat” illustrate the album’s wide range. The former song is about how “often the greatest, heaviest feelings we have for someone are in the absence of the realization or reciprocation of that love,” while SASAMI describes the latter as “a soundtrack to cathartic release of anger and frustration with oppressive systems and humans.”
Stream SASAMI’s “The Greatest” and “Skin a Rat” below, followed by the Japanese horror film-inspired cover art in which SASAMI assumes the form of Nure-onna. Pre-orders for Squeeze are ongoing.
In between SASAMI’s supporting dates for Japanese Breakfast this fall and Mitski next spring, she will embark on a headlining tour of her own. It kicks off on March 4th at The Stone Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, and will make stops in cities like Atlanta, Brooklyn, and San Francisco. The trek wraps up on April 12th at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles.
See the full schedule below the jump, and pick up tickets starting at 10:00 am local time on Friday, October 29th at Ticketmaster.
Squeeze Artwork:
Squeeze Tracklist:
01. Skin a Rat
02. The Greatest
03. Say It
04. Call Me Home
05. Need It to Work
06. Tried to Understand
07. Make It Right
08. Sorry Entertainer
09. Squeeze (feat. No Home)
10. Feminine Water Turmoil
11. Not a Love Song
SASAMI 2021-2022 Tour Dates:
10/29 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at the Factory ^
10/30 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^
10/31 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s (Levitation)
11/01 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger ^
11/03 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress (Outdoor Plaza) ^
11/04 – Tempe, AZ @ Coca-Cola Sun Deck at Sun Devil Stadium ^
11/07 – Berkeley, CA @ UC Theatre ^
11/09 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades ^
11/11 – Sonoma, CA @ Gundlach Bundschu Winery ^
11/12 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Madonna Inn ^
11/13 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst ^
11/15 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House ^
11/16 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House ^
03/04 – Brattleboro, VT @ The Stone Church
03/05 – Woodstock, NY @ The Colony
03/06 – Rochester, NY @ The Bug Jar
03/08 – Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s
03/10 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
03/11 – Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover
03/21 – Nashville, TN @ The End
03/22 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade Purgatory Stage
03/24 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
03/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
03/26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
03/27 – Cambridge, MA @ Sonia
03/30 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
03/31 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
04/01 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
04/02 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
04/03 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge
04/05 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
04/07 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room
04/08 – Boise, ID @ The Shredder
04/09 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
04/10 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
04/12 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
04/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
04/21 – Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory *
04/22 – Leeds, UK @ University Union Refectory *
04/23 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom *
04/25 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street *
04/26 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy *
04/28 – London, UK @ The Roundhouse *
04/29 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton *
04/30 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique Festival *
05/02 – Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix *
05/03 – Paris, FR @ L’Olympia *
05/04 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso *
05/06 – Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten *
05/07 – Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks *
05/09 – Berlin, DE @ Metropol *
05/10 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega *
05/11 – Stockholm, SE @ Fallan
05/12 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene *
05/14 – Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik *
05/15 – Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria *
05/17 – Vienna, AT @ WUK *
05/18 – Prague, CZ @ Archa Theatre *
05/19 – Munich, DE @ Strom *
^ = w/ Japanese Breakfast
* = w/ Mitski
