Rihanna has been a busy, busy woman.

The presses are still hot from printing her self-titled coffee table book, which released last month and already, the 22-year-old Barbadian beauty is releasing her fifth album in as many years.

Plucked from obscurity by Def Jam Record’s then-president Jay-Z at the tender age of 17, the singer most famous for the catchy ditty “Umbrella” has been forced to grow up in Fame’s harsh glare – everything from the domestic abuse inflicted on her by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown to her decision to get stick-straight red hair extensions gets plastered all over the headlines.

Seeing that her last effort, the gritty and dark Rated R was framed by the whole Brown abuse debacle, surely the lady deserves the chance to have some fun on Loud, which Rihanna describes as showing more of her West Indian roots.

The first 2 singles, the flirty duet with rapper/singer Drake “What’s My Name?” and 80’s-synth-heavy “Only Girl (In The World)”, have already shot up the US Billboard Hot 100 charts to peak at top 2 spots respectively.

“S&M”, the opening track, is evidence that Rihanna is seriously keen on working the dominant, bad girl angle to the ground. Growling “Sticks and stones may break my bones/ But chains and whips excite me” over big, thumping beats, Rihanna conjures a decidedly naughty picture for her listeners. However, lyrics like this, if they’re honest, also win sympathy for abusive boyfriends, as a true masochist enjoys physical torment. Poised to be Loud’s third single, one can only wonder how the accompanying music video will pan out, and if it will ever make it onto our screens.

Her drinking anthem “Cheers (Drink to That)” samples, rather surprisingly, Avril Lavigne’s “I’m With You”, with the Canadian singer’s ‘yeah, yeah’s punctuating every chorus of “There’s a party at the bar/ Everybody put your glasses up/and I’ll drink to that”, with the guitars cutting out momentarily for a brief drunken sing-along by the bar’s patrons. It sounds like an odd mix, but the weird thing is that it actually works.

The first 5 songs are, without a doubt, her strongest, creating a ‘woman-in-control’ build-up that’s shattered by the obligatory ballad “California King Bed”. It’s definitely the weakest track, having no place on this playfully sensual album, and sounds like an afterthought.

Rihanna, between keeping a running commentary of  the body parts of her lover and her– “chest to chest/ nose to nose/ palm to palm/ we were always just that close/ wrist to wrist/ toe to toe” – haplessly bemoans their emotional distance in reference to their seemingly huge bed. Honestly, isn’t there a better metaphor for this? She misses the sweet and tender mark by a long shot. This track smacks of neediness and being whiny.

Luckily the groove picks back up immediately on the very next track, the Caribbean-flavoured “Man Down”, reminiscent of Rihanna’s “Pon De Replay” days, with a bit of reggae theme set by the snare drum opening and staccato synth-keyboard riff running throughout.

“Raining Men”, featuring newcomer Nicki Minaj, is one of the more interesting songs. It has plenty of sass and attitude, with Rihanna brushing off an unworthy male admirer with the words

set your standards lower baby/ you’re aiming too high.

Her declaration of freedom and independence serves as hilarious way of stating that a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. Wailing sirens and bouncy beats make this one for the clubs.

Of course, the last track is what everyone’s been waiting to hear – Part Two of the Rihanna-Eminem collaboration, “Love The Way You Lie”. There’s a sort of finality in the way she sings on this track, like this is the close of a certain chapter in her life that she may never revisit.

Loud is keen to differentiate itself from its predecessors Good Girl Gone Bad and Rated R, but it still retains a sense of various costumes and personas being tried on, just for the sake of appearing versatile. Rihanna needs to stop going through the motions and find a strength that she’d like to stick to.

Artiste: Rihanna
Album: Loud
Rating: ✭★✭✩✩

Language: English
Genre: R&B/Dance-pop
Record Label: Def Jam
Release Date: 12 November 2010

Track List:

  1. S&M
  2. What’s My Name? (feat. Drake)
  3. Cheers (Drink to That)
  4. Fading
  5. Only Girl (In the World)
  6. California King Bed
  7. Man Down
  8. Raining Men (feat. Nicki Minaj)
  9. Complicated
  10. Skin
  11. Love the Way You Lie (Part II) (feat. Eminem)