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Sometimes you stop trying to rewrite the story and start owning the part they’ve cast you in. Sarina’s latest single, ‘If You Need Me To Be The Villain (Then Maybe I Am)’, takes that sentiment and slams it down with a punk-tinged snarl, flipping the narrative on its head with unapologetic venom.
Produced by Kevin Thrasher, the studio hand behind modern alt-rock heavyweights like Blink-182 and Avril Lavigne, the track is a sharp, melodramatic hybrid of alt-rock crunch and pop-punk catharsis. It’s also Sarina’s most pointed statement yet: a reclamation of agency for every woman who’s been made to feel like the “problem” in her own relationship story.
The song begins deceptively tender. A soft piano line blooms under Sarina’s clear, unguarded vocal, almost too intimate, like she’s letting you in on something she’s not quite ready to admit. But within seconds, that vulnerability mutates into steel. The moment the first chorus hits, the guitars crash through like a landslide, turning confession into confrontation. The mood shifts from quiet resignation to pure fury.
Where some artists would keep the rage masked behind metaphors, Sarina wears hers openly, almost joyfully. “I can smile / make it reach my eyes / don’t look too close / you’ll see through my lies,” she sings, a line that feels less like an admission and more like a dare. It’s a lyrical tightrope between exhaustion and liberation, the point where trying to be “good” stops being worth the cost.
If the verses carry the sting of betrayal, the choruses detonate with unfiltered catharsis. Thrasher’s production leans into a muscular, full-bodied sound: distorted power chords throb in the low end, drums drive with stubborn momentum, and Sarina’s voice cuts clean through the chaos. It’s a sonic embodiment of the moment you decide you’d rather be misunderstood than diminished.
This isn’t rebellion for rebellion’s sake. There’s a self-protective clarity at the heart of ‘If You Need Me To Be The Villain’. Sarina doesn’t romanticise the fallout; she makes it clear that stepping into this role is a response to being cornered, not a choice made lightly. That distinction gives the track its emotional heft. You can hear the years of quiet acquiescence in the softer moments, just as you can hear the turning point in the heavier ones.
Lifted from her forthcoming EP, The Fool, the single hints at a wider emotional arc. While this track stands firmly in the territory of rallying cries and power reclamation, it’s also steeped in the bittersweet residue of past hurt. It recognises the toll of always being the one to compromise, apologise, and absorb the blame, and it refuses to keep playing along.
At its core, the track is about reframing villainy as freedom. Sarina doesn’t shy away from the fact that people will talk, judge, and invent their own stories about you. Instead, she finds a way to turn that into armour. She reminds us that anger can be just as honest.
‘If You Need Me To Be The Villain (Then Maybe I Am)’ doesn’t care about being pretty; it’s here to hit hard. By stepping fully into the role, Sarina turns in one of her boldest, most electric performances to date.