by Hero Magnus
Upcoming music star Sarina is a DMV native, born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. She has released two projects in 2020 alone, her first called Glass Paradise and the most recent a full-length venture called Come to the Light. Alchemical Records is thrilled to introduce you to this powerhouse artist and her most recent single, “Bite Back.”
We recently covered Sarina’s lovely song “Love I Like,” which is accompanied by a gorgeous little retro video. Sarina continues the retro theme with “Bite Back.” The vibe mimics the Scooby-Doo cartoons or the title sequence of Frankenstein, complete with old-fashioned title sequences and spooky vibes. It’s the perfect song for this Halloween: a mixture of gorgeous October visuals and an anthem for standing strong. “Made my decision / don’t need to think twice / eyes full of fire and heart made of ice,” she sings, promising to be the kind of woman who bites back when she is treated poorly.
The music video is styled like a slick short film; at the beginning Sarina and her video-boyfriend drive up to a spot to meet some friends. Everyone looks gorgeous in edgy leather, and although
her boyfriend seems to have the heebie-jeebies, Sarina swears that she’s ‘forgiven’ him for some as-yet-unknown offense.
Sarina herself and all of her backup dancers have little fangs in their mouths, but the intentions are unclear: are they actually evil vampires, or just dressing up? Sarina’s concrete set of aesthetics and attentiveness to her choreography, color, vibe is not just impressive but also reflects her abilities as an artist, and her concrete sense of self and identity as a musician. It’s rare to find that in most artists, let alone someone so young. This is not a surprise if you listen to the lyrics, though: “break my heart / won’t take no high road / no I’ll get you right back” is such a clever turn of a usual phrase
The song itself leans into the spooky vibe too, with minor-key synths and sparse instrumentals. The hook is incredibly fun to bop along to, though, which makes this a kind of Halloween club song. Sarina’s ability to lean into campiness and kitsch without overdoing it. By the end of the video is also impressive. The video makes you love Sarina as an artist: it’s just the right mixture of scary and fun.
“Love I Like” included a similarly excellent video, involving retro home video-style tapes of Sarina playing tennis in tye-dye. The video and the song match perfectly. In it, she rides scooters, dances as an animated figure, lip-syncs right into the camera, and cloudwatches. “Love I Like” is more lush than “Bite Back,” but both have their own charms, much like Sarina herself and every other song on the gorgeous Come to the Light album.
Sarina has already created a robust artistic world. We’re so excited to see what she wants to give us next. Check out “Bite Back” above, as well as the rest of the Come to the Light album.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
