Okinawa Electric Girl Saya Prays For the World With Her Own Unique Rhythm…

/ supremenothing

Daemon mentioned this MV in the weekender, but after watching it several times, I’ve felt compelled to write a further commentary on it, so here we go!

It oughta be clear by this point that our favorite avant-garde idol, Okinawa Electric Girl Saya, isn’t slowing down for anything, be it the challenges of a music career, or a virus, or simply exhaustion from working so hard all the time. Saya continues to be on total fire in all the right ways with her rapid fire creative output and inspirational can-do spirit. And with that, she dropped her 167th MV from her upcoming 83rd album (Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit, but give her time and she’ll get there.)…

The song is called “Rhythm” and will be included on her upcoming release “NEO SAYA”. It’s a bit of a departure because it’s (almost) a straightforward pop song that could possibly be kind of a hit if the powers that be freed their minds just a little further….

I love the beats and synth lines in this, and the faint vocals lying just under the production. And while it is more accessible than much of Saya’s more experimental work, it’s not by any means a song that suggests a compromised vision, If anything, I think this one of her most intensely focused and personal works yet. Saya also wrote the lyrics to this, (The lyrics are in the YouTube Description. I’ll spare you my bad translation, but you can cut n’ paste for your own insights.) I will say though, the song is a celebration of rising above adversity and freeing yourself to dance to your own drummer. As Saya put it when introducing the video, she’s “Praying for the world”.

And the MV itself… you can’t social distance much better than this! I’m a huge afficinado of one-shot-one-take filmmaking. I love film work where the button is pressed and the camera is allowed to roll non-stop with no easy out with post-production editing. What gets captured is what you get. It’s pretty gutsy, actually. Saya’s really quite a dancer too! I’m assuming that this is nearly entirely improvised. One doesn’t have usually a typical choreographed plan when they put themselves out there like this. But in any case, it’s beautiful and amazing.

Y’know, when we think about what idol culture is all about, one of the key components is enjoying the personal growth of these artists as they become more capable and comfortable with expressing themselves. This is certainly the most confident and self-assured moment I’ve ever seen out of Saya, and it’s pretty exciting to witness!

There’s little doubt that the recent events we’re all going through are taking a toll on us. It’s pretty damn hard to not feel like an anxiety-ridden wreck lately, and we really needed this. With her prayer of healing for mankind, (and the Earth) Saya has dropped a sweet glow of positive energy that I hope can touch everybody, even if it’s just for a brief moment. We’re going to get through this, and Okinawa Electric Girl Saya made that eventuality feel a little closer with this MV. Thank you Saya!!