SASAMI - Squeeze

In a kind of reverse metamorphosis, Californian artist Sasami decides to shed the butterfly-like lightness that first made her name with the wider public. She doesn't turn into a caterpillar, though, but into a nure onna, a mythological Japanese monster with the body of a snake and the head of a beautiful young woman. Definitely a different context from just a few years ago, when on the cover of her celebrated debut album she didn't hesitate to show herself precariously balanced on sheets of ice, baring her vulnerabilities in remarkably inspired lyrics. Her warm, velvety voice and surprising, delicate melodies made her an irresistible magnet for all lovers of indie-rock sounds.

The opening of "Squeeze" puts even the most hardened music taxonomists to the test, given how versatile the songs on offer are. On "Skin A Rat" she delivers invectives against the modern economy in a riot of furious guitars and distorted vocals that will likely appeal to fans of bands like Korn or System of a Down. On the following "The Greatest" she sings of love and broken hearts in a song steeped in 90s pop-rock. On "Say It" she tries to make not just these two souls coexist, but adds many more besides. Built on an industrial-rock structure, the song layers in divergent sonic lines, often turning to synthesizers and exploiting the contrast between the harshness of the music and Sasami's welcoming voice.

It's rare to come across a work with such heterogeneous content. Then again, even the myth of the Japanese snake-woman, with whom the American singer has chosen to identify, emphasizes how she possesses a nature that is at once gentle and terrifying. To pull off this feat, the rocker makes a great effort to adapt her angelic voice to such frenzied rhythms. She also decides to enlist some notable collaborators, ranging from Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbueren to Moaning bassist, all the way to eclectic jazz drummer Jay Bellerose.

It's clear that the versatile Los Angeles artist's intent is to dismantle the traditional barriers between genres, simply inviting the listener to follow her into this ideal of musical syncretism. It's by no means an easy task: it's hard for anyone to move smoothly from the fierce, aggressive post-punk rhythms of "Sorry Entertainer" (a reworked version of the Daniel Johnston track) to the dreamy, cinematic atmospheres of "Not A Love Song". The limitation of this approach is that wherever she tries to create tension by drawing on metal or alternative rock, she never manages to sound more convincing than the bands she's echoing.

The obsessive melody of “Need It To Work” reveals the influence that bands like Sonic Youth had on her formation, but it fails to recreate the avant-garde expressive language she probably loved in the New York band. On the contrary, it ends up being unintentionally grating due to the repetitiveness and banality of the bassline that snakes through the whole song.

Sasami seems decidedly more at ease, on the other hand, when she returns to more classic indie-rock. “Makes It Right”, for instance, comes off well, playing with instrumental contrasts by grafting an off-beat drum part and a glam guitar that constantly unsettles the rhythm onto a country-pop vocal base, creating a distinctive sonic mash-up, especially in the song's middle section.

Squeeze is undoubtedly a highly ambitious work, pervaded by conflicting ideas, oddly alternating between reassuring country-pop sounds and chilling screams, with dynamics that bring it close to early-2000s nu metal. We can certainly only admire the boldness of an artist capable of literally reinventing herself and completely upending every expectation. But the result still feels unripe. If she truly wants to be followed on this exploratory path, Sasami shouldn't forget to pack along the things she's already proven she's good at.

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16/03/2022