Whenever SASAMI emerges with new music, there’s a sense that she’s pushing herself into unexplored corners of her creative universe. With her third album, ‘Blood On the Silver Screen’, she’s diving headfirst into bright, unapologetic pop - an embrace of big choruses, modern country drama, and playful references to some of her favourite musical storytellers. It’s a dramatic turn for an artist who, not so long ago, was cranking up the volume on heavier, rock-driven sounds. Yet, as she explains, the shift feels like a natural evolution: pop was always waiting beneath the surface. “It all started on the horn,” she says. “Brahms, Strauss, My Bloody Valentine, Shania Twain - these are all tiny hops in the GRAND scheme.”

That seemingly endless continuum of influences - from classical composers to pop titans and heavier rockers - reflects her range as a musician and producer. Before devoting herself to this new era, SASAMI cut her teeth as a classically trained French horn player, then moved through more experimental phases, culminating in the riff-heavy energy of her 2022 album ‘Squeeze’. She now frames that transition as part of a never-ending search for creative expression. “What makes the robin sing or the worm wriggle? We’ve all got a little voice inside saying, ‘Go, search, fly’. My little voice was narrated by Britney Spears. ‘There’s only two types of people in the world / The ones that entertain and the ones that observe’. Well, sometimes we’re both.”

From the outset, it’s clear that ‘Blood On the Silver Screen’ is a pop album with a cinematic dimension - at once playful, self-aware, and loaded with a love story that reads like a sci-fi romance. SASAMI describes a fictional universe at the heart of the project: “The protagonist of ‘Blood On the Silver Screen’ (B.O.S.S.)’s lore is a denim-clad, wild-haired, deep time and space alien sent to Earth to hunt, trap, study, kill - and accidentally fall in love with - their nemesis: A personified materialisation of LOVE.” Each song captures a different facet of this shapeshifting dynamic between two characters, constantly on the brink of heartbreak or transformation. “In the process of doing so these characters fall into certain tropes of human relationships and thus the cinematic genre shifts as LOVE shapeshifts and our tough and tender protagonist rallies to keep up with them.”

That storyline, with its flamboyant premise, underscores her desire to go beyond the usual rules. “I wanted to go all out with this album,” she says. “BIG SWINGS. I’ve got a bat and two arms and a whole lot of momentum burning inside of them. I’m lucky to have that fire in my belly to step up to the plate, so now I just gotta make contact, damn it!” Creating these larger-than-life narratives isn’t just about crafting something entertaining. It’s a way of tapping into the emotional extremes that pop music can inhabit, from soaring exultation to soul-crushing heartache. “It’s like a ride you’re on - you can’t get off, and you don’t want to!” she says, conjuring images of pop hooks swirling around in your head, impossible to resist. “Britney, Bruce, Beethoven - they all talked the talk.”

There’s also a humorous defiance in the way she discusses these new influences, especially given her background as a classical musician - a sphere where certain music can be deemed more “legitimate” than others. “Knowing is a fool’s errand,” she notes. “It’s a feeling more than a destination and even feelings aren’t facts right? They say that I think... Actually, I don’t know. I think maybe feelings are the only facts. See, I made a record, and all I got was a merry-go-round of questions and answers that point back to questions! Making an album is just writing them all down.” She’s embracing the intangible buzz that comes from constructing a gigantic pop banger, combining that intangible spark with the methodical rigour she once devoted to classical performance.

For SASAMI, these big swings in sound aren’t about abandoning her earlier style; they’re about celebrating the entire spectrum of her musical background. What matters is that she lets herself follow her impulses, trusting that audiences will get on board with the ride. “Sometimes you crave a stuffed pheasant alla Norma, and sometimes you just want a mouthful of Monster Munch,” she says with a laugh. “I go through my own waves of high-brow, low-brow fascination, and I don’t even understand why! I can’t begin to understand what draws us to certain things in this world, but I sure did TRY to understand pop songwriting, and I can only hope that the salty-sweet spoonful of what I’m serving up is just what the doctor ordered!”

Part of that shift in perspective came from realising how pop can amplify her desire for larger-than-life theatrical moments. She’s talked about the ephemeral burst of euphoria pop can deliver - a feeling that can make listeners dance around their rooms or shout along at a stadium show. It’s the perfect canvas for the kind of bigger stories she wanted to tell this time. “I was always humbled by the greatness and also the insignificance of my task,” she says, reflecting on the songwriting process. “It always comes back to fun and how the market’s doing. Sometimes my fun numbers are down, and sometimes they’re up, but as long as I’m ahead in the long run, we’re in a pretty good place, I’d say, and I think it shows in the music.”

That pursuit of fun - coupled with a strong sense of momentum - runs throughout her daily life. “I am fun, so every day is fun!” she declares. “Also, I think of funness as a currency worth collecting and growing, so I am VERY invested in that asset.” This perspective helps explain how she can pivot so sharply from the sounds of ‘Squeeze’ - heavier, often dissonant - and land squarely in an unapologetic pop realm, balancing romance, humour, and big emotional swings. Her attitude is part of the reason she was able to write much of this material quickly, as if seized by the thrill of new possibilities. “’Squeeze’ slithered off in the autumn of ‘22. I wrote number three in the sea in winter, laid its seeds in summer, watered in fall and let it cook underground for one more salty winter. It is a barely defrosted spring harvest this year!”

The record’s origins in a watery, introspective winter and a symbolically fertile summer help give it that sense of dramatic scale. You can imagine her scribbling out lyrics while waves crash around her, a mental image that lines up surprisingly well with the cinematic alien love story at the centre of the album. Part tongue-in-cheek, part genuine, it’s a concept that allows her to stretch her imagination, weaving cosmic metaphors into raw, personal truths. “As a human vessel for these untouchable, unknowable pursuits of understanding via guitars, electronic drums, synthesisers and other resonant explorations, I am always humbled,” she says. “We have different tools at our disposal to get the job done, but at the end of the day, it’s about the fight in the fox innit.”

That fighting spirit also emerged when it came time to perform music from her previous album, ‘Squeeze’, on tour with Haim, Mitski, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Those experiences, in turn, shaped her new approach. Though each of those acts is quite different, SASAMI found herself inspired by the scale of their tours and the intensity of their performance styles, which she likens to going into battle. “It’s like following around a fleet of tanks with a machete,” she says. The sense of spectacle provided a taste of how bigger staging, bigger lights, and bigger sounds can alter the communal experience of a live show.

Now, with ‘Blood On the Silver Screen’, she looks set to headline her own brand of large-scale drama, complete with slick pop hooks and a bigger production budget. Her live band - previously known for leaning into the heaviness of her second album - will have to adapt to a more flexible range of tones, from heartbreak ballads to up-tempo pop anthems. Asked about collaboration, she specifically mentions one especially memorable team-up on the new record: a song with Clairo, whose guest appearance is “the consummate privilege.” She says of their work together, “To hear a songbird up close is the sweetest chance. To hear Claire’s vocals solo in my headphones is like hearing how wild honey tastes.” The track, titled ‘In Love With A Memory’, brings a new dimension to SASAMI’s ongoing exploration of pop balladry, adding the atmospheric hush of Clairo’s vocals to that epic cinematic vibe.

Throughout this process, she’s never lost sight of the network of musicians she calls friends and mentors. Building a sense of community has always mattered, whether it’s jamming at a cramped indie club or stepping onto a festival stage. She describes it as “a ship of powerful drunken sea travellers who can hold a tune in one hand and do a magic trick with the other” - a vivid mental image that captures the unity of creative people supporting one another. “I’m lucky to even behold the wonders of my peers, let alone feast together and share in the riches, gems, jewels, and musical pleasures of our collective sounds.”

This sense of camaraderie and creative ambition leads us back to the heart of ‘Blood On the Silver Screen’: a pop record conjured by an artist who’s unafraid to question everything. For SASAMI, the act of writing songs is a means of wrestling with big existential puzzles - love, desire, identity, alienation. She’s also eager to bring those songs to the stage, expanding upon their cinematic qualities with choreography, visuals, or perhaps something more unpredictable. “The only luxury greater than writing a script is taking the show on the road,” she says, hinting at an upcoming tour that will likely be as flamboyant as the album itself. “I hope to sail far and wide with ‘B.O.S.S.’, and I hope to delight, shock and seduce many on my path. (Come see me on tour.)” ■