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Mar 11, 2025 Web Exclusive By Carlo Thomas

On the Silver Screen is SASAMI’s pop statement, one that’s rewarding for listeners precisely because it was a rewarding experience for the artist herself. “Pop music is like fuel,” says SASAMI (full name Sasami Ashworth), a classically trained musician whose previous efforts included explorations into the dark side of indie rock of her debut and touring with a metal band a few years ago. These 13 songs deal with the quintessential themes explored in pop—self-destruction, emotional insecurity, and hopeless romanticism, all under the great big banner of love. Yet these songs are handled with another kind of love: one for the craft of songwriting and respect for the pop genre. When she explains “I wanted to go all out with this album,” you believe her.

Early single “Slugger” proved to be the perfect introduction to this side of SASAMI, one that dresses up painful loneliness through a deceptively catchy chorus (while name-checking Dolly Parton in the process). Album highlight “Love Makes You Do Crazy Things” sees SASMI tackle the struggles of holding onto self-respect through shuddering power pop. “Drop bombs on my heart / I’ll pick it up if we fall apart,” she admits, a painful admission delivered inside a maximalist chorus. Even on the slower but no less energized “For the Weekend,” SASAMI wrestles with the desire for a one-night stand against someone who, in her eyes, could be relationship-worthy.
SASAMI’s vulnerabilities at times prove too much for even her pop to bear. “When you love sometimes you lose it all,” she declares on the penultimate track “Lose It All” through a swaying yet melancholic melody; it’s her take of an exasperated sigh. Yet for all these trials of love that SASAMI endures on On the Silver Screen, she never wallows in her grief. “Honey crash into me,” she demands on the chorus of “Honeycrash”—it’s an ask not borne of petty or desire, but of love and determination. “We can make it through all that”—SASAMI knows how to nurse our wounds, wrap them up, and get us ready for the next fight. (www.sasamiashworth.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10