SASAMI w/Savila

f you’ve ever drafted an overly long text to someone and decided against sending it, then you’ll probably hear something of yourself in SASAMI. Her new self-titled album (out in March) tells a story, one about the surprising ways that one’s relationships—with lovers, friends, and oneself—can shift in a single year. And it’s one that doesn’t really have a solid conclusion or takeaway other than the realization “that your status of being in a relationship or not doesn’t actually define whether you feel whole,” as Sasami describes it. “It’s about whether you feel grounded or not. Whether you feel at peace or not.”   

It’s inspiring to hear a woman who spent years playing other people’s music finally tell her own story. And it’s a feeling she says she wants to pay forward, just as her students and so many women in her life—like recent tourmates Mitski, Snail Mail, and Japanese Breakfast—have empowered her. Which is another way of saying that even in its saddest moments, SASAMI will put a little bounce in your step.