This article was originally published on Consequence
Poptimism is in the midst of making a full-fledged comeback, and CoSign alum SASAMI can attest to that. Three years removed from 2022’s Squeeze, which was built atop an industrial metal foundation, she has reemerged with 11 new tracks that tap more into a playful side than her last project.
“This album is all about learning and respecting the craft of pop songwriting, about relenting to illogical passion, obsession, and guiltless pleasure,” she says about Blood on the Silver Screen. “It’s about leaning into the chaos of romance and sweeping devotion — romanticism to the point of self-destruction.”
Having spent her adulthood unlearning the teachings from her formative years in the Unification Church, SASAMI has converted her reinterpretations of love, sex, and power into a stack of lighthearted tunes. At 34 years of age, the singer and multi-instrumentalist has let down her guard as she takes a simpler, more straightforward approach to understanding herself.
“I was always a weirdo outsider and I didn’t feel like pop music spoke to me,” she explains. “Being a woman of color, I’ve always felt this pressure or need to make something that’s mysterious or innovative, and always shied away from lightheartedness. I wanted to go all out with this album. I wanted to, in my tenderness and emotionality, have the bravery to undertake something as epic as making a pop record about love. I hope it makes people feel empowered and embodied, too. It’s important to not box yourself in.”
Stream Blood on the Silver Screen below, and keep scrolling to check out SASAMI’s Track by Track comments on each song.
“Slugger”:
Film genre: Feel good, sporty anti-hero’s journey
I really wanted to make an album of love songs; songs that evoke happiness, fun, a sense of invigoration — all the things I like about pop music. Very intentionally in a major key, even though the lyrics are sad girl… because it’s still a SASAMI record (lol). My last albums were very serious, even though I am a pretty absurd and silly person, so I wanted to tap into those parts of myself in some of the lyrics and feelings of this album, especially on “Slugger.” The opener shares a throughline with the characters in most of the songs on B.O.S.S. [Blood on the Silver Screen] — She’s buff, but also a baby.
“Just Be Friends”:
Film genre: Suburban strip mall twee Western
On the demo of this song, I tracked a very rough baritone rubber bridge guitar directly into my iPad, which stayed on the finished track as the foundation for the song. “Just Be Friends” is my version of a modern country song, but if Kelly Clarkson wrote the bridge. It’s inspired by country music lyrics’ uncanny way of combining sadness, horniness, self-deprecation, and humor, and the ways we have amnesia about the pain in relationships and that mis-memory leads us into falling back into old habits.
“I’ll Be Gone”:
Film genre: Batman/Matrix-esque dark action (but sexy, obv)
“I’ll Be Gone” taps into self-actualization, embodiment, and sitting in the filth of physical/emotional sluttiness, and then dancing it off. It’s giving nightclub lighting, main character energy, but also the interplay/space between sexual freedom and wanting intimacy and closeness and familiarity. ’80s vibes are the perfect intermixing of fun and darkness.
“Love Makes You Do Crazy Things”:
Film genre: Modern Marvel action movie starring Zac Efron, Chris Hemsworth, and Lady Gaga
“Love Makes You Do Crazy Things” is basically a remix of the first version I made of this song, which was a slow-burning ballad that I wrote while hiking Mount Wittenberg. It’s gym music! The melodic ecstasy and drama of love and infatuation with the grit and coarseness of chugging nu-metal guitars. Passion that makes you turn your back on logic and reason. Love is work and this is a song we WORK to.
“In Love With a Memory” (feat. Clairo):
Film genre: Bonnie and Clyde/Thelma and Louise, old nostalgic Americana classic
“In Love With a Memory” is a modern ballad [and] epic poem about honoring an ending relationship and the urgent longing for something more. It’s a cinematic duet with a ghost (Clairo). Just because we want more doesn’t mean anything is broken. This one was very inspired by picturing my mom — who secretly slays at Noraebang (Korean karaoke room) — in a Lynchian Western dive bar/lounge under the cigarette smoke, hazed spotlight crooning to a room of faceless strangers in a full denim getup.
“Possessed”:
Film genre: Sexy thriller/horror
Nothing is sexier than revenge. Femme Fatale-era Britney-inspired dance track about the empowerment of being newly single and wielding your sexuality and the clarity that follows when you fully unleash/release. The protagonist is seeking the chaos and leaning into the darkness: picture Angelina Jolie as a sexy villain in a tight black leather outfit stopping by the club right to slut it up before going out to kill her target.
“Figure It Out”:
Film genre: Romantic, passionate city drama
“Figure It Out” is a true love song about the dynamics of partnership — wanting to fight for a love you believe in. Longing for someone to fight for you and willing to sacrifice your whole self. Shadows, flashing lights, running in slow motion in the mist on a wet city street at 2:00 a.m. in 1980s NYC. The power that can exist when two people trust each other and support each other to the end of the earth without judgment or condition. Very inspired by Prince, but the demo was an acoustic lullaby in triple meter.
“For the Weekend”:
Film genre: Romcom but in short snippets that fit on TikTok
“For the Weekend” is about being completely forward and transparent about your desire to be intimate without attachment. Knowing you don’t have the capacity for a relationship, but still wanting to connect. Reconciling when the other person wants more, and how to/who should compromise. A song that is playing in every late ’90s/early aughts CW teen sitcom. Exploring modern takes on sex without love. True depth without security: is it possible?
“Honeycrash”:
Film genre: Sci-fi action thriller on the set of a Wagner opera, but a modern one with a giant hi-fi LED wall
“Honeycrash” has all the drama of a 13th century classical opera, but with the patience and understanding of someone in therapy in 2025. Wanting to fight for the pinnacle of passion and desire, but knowing you can’t change or rush someone else’s feelings/resolutions. Fighting through the elements, toward certain death for love. Being patient and trying to convince a lover that beyond the pain and destruction is only a thin partition occluding pleasure.
“Smoke (Banished from Eden)”:
Film genre: Old black-and-white film preview playing on a shoddy projector
Fog and smoke intermix until a heavenly breeze splits the haze to reveal a beautiful young woman (Eve) leaning against the gate of the Garden of Eden. She is smoking a cig with a single tear rolling down her blushed cheek. This track is the moment in the live show where I whip out my French horn.
“Nothing But a Sad Face On”:
Film genre: Remake of an old-timey biblical story in the style of the 1996 Romeo and Juliet remake with Claire [Danes] and Leo [DiCaprio]
“Nothing But a Sad Face On” is a revisionist history that celebrates biblical Eve as a sex icon. Eve, banished from the Garden of Eden for being a slut, slams the gate without looking back and drives 90 mph in a convertible down a winding highway to be with her illicit (hot) lover. The intoxication of forbidden desire. The loneliness of following your desires and leaving some things/people behind to do so. A melancholic choir of horns wail in the distance.
“Lose It All”:
Film genre: Julia Roberts and Sally Field in Steel Magnolias-type dramedy with wise lessons
A breezy, feel-good track to counterbalance the often perilous risk that comes with diving into the deep end of love AGAIN. The light and warmth of love that continuously draws you in, even when you’ve been burned by its brightness many times before. Consciously risking it all for the uninsured promise of love, and throwing all your cares away. The meme of Nicole Kidman leaving her lawyer’s office after divorcing Tom Cruise and the absolute FREEDOM that exudes from her body.
“The Seed”:
Film genre: Gritty art film psychological thriller with unexpected sci-fi action themes, directed by Jonathan Glazer
If Nirvana made a dance track with lyrics from a Leonard Cohen poem about love and pain as seasons that we must accept as they come and pass in all their unknowable wisdom. Trusting that light comes at the end of a period of darkness. Trust is maybe even superior to love. Trust in yourself and trust in the one you love.
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