R E VI E WS
***
Rihanna
Anti - Roc Nation, 2016
By Philip Josse
Dark, brooding and
claustrophobic, this is
Rihanna’s least commercial offering so far, and a world away
from the melodic confidence of
her previous work.
The album is highly
textured, and she layers trap
beats over stuttering samples
and reggae-inspired vocals.
Many songs appear to have
been inspired by Rihanna’s
Bajan heritage, and her vocals
particularly seem highly influenced by the reggae and soul
music of Barbados.
Vocally, the album is
uneven. And on tracks such as
Love on the Brain and Close to
You she sounds passionate and
electric, moving to indifference
on James Joint.
The early tracks are ruled
by production values, showcasing the talents of the 23 producers credited on the label. But
36
towards the end, the backing
sounds are stripped back, the
heavy, syncopated beats taking
a back seat to jazz-inspired melodies, and even the synthesizer
is replaced by the violin.
This is Rihanna’s first album
not to be heralded by a global
chart-topping hit. And though
fairly banger free, it was preceded by the single Work featuring
Canadian rapper Drake, which
failed to break into the top five
in any major chart.
Rhianna is no songwriter
and so has been able to put out
an album almost every year
since her 2005 debut with
Music of the Sun. But this latest
offering is her first album in
over two years, the longest she
has gone without a release.
And even then, the album
came out in fits and starts,
much less smoothly than
her other releases. So, a tweet
in late 2014 said the album
would be out ‘soon’, but it was
repeatedly pushed back, until a
release in February 2016.
But even that date proved a
movable feast, as a “program-
ming