Rihanna – Talk That Talk (album review)

Rihanna’s new album Talk That Talk sits somewhere between Rated R – her creative and musical zenith, and Loud – her hit-laden album that couldn’t stop releasing catchy, radio-friendly #1 singles. This is very much a good thing – although the album is not quite as emotionally deep or jagged as Rated R, it has more edge to it than Loud did – think of it as Loud² with the lights turned down.

Lead singles “We Found Love” and “You Da One” are excellent examples of this. The former is a hands-up-in-the-air bittersweet love anthem that incorporates basic 4-to-the-floor dance just as previous lead single “Only Girl (In The World)” did. However, “We Found Love” is lyrically much more sparse and perhaps more potent as a result – the simple refrain of “We found love in a hopeless place” carries more weight. The excellent, vibrant and startling video further brought this song to life, emphasising the exhilarating highs (the high-energy production courtesy of Calvin Harris) and destructive lows (the simple, spare lyrics) of being in an all-consuming love. The album’s opening song “You Da One” is a sticky-sweet treat in the vein of mega-hit “What’s My Name”; it’s a shame that this didn’t come out in the summer, as it is a song to play in the car when you are riding with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

The first half of Talk That Talk is relentless; after “You Da One”, “Where Have You Been” turns the BPM up to ‘insane’, adds an irresistible call to arms in “Wheeeeeeere have you beeeeeeeeeen all my liiiiiiiiiiiiife”, and quickly becomes Rihanna’s best dance single since “Don’t Stop The Music”.  The album’s title track boasts a predatory rap from Jay-Z just like “Umbrella”, and Rihanna adopts a swagger which suggests that she is at once nonchalant and aggressively icy. It’s a curious dichotomy that defines Rihanna’s appeal – sometimes she is effortlessly stylish and seems to throw out hits that succeed in spite of their singer’s lackadaisical approach; and yet, there is some fierce and determined artistry in Rihanna’s heart to make her records work consistently, and to imbue them with heart and a range of emotions that has come through in her best material. At this point in her career, she commands respect.

According to “Cockiness” and its subsequent interlude “Birthday Cake”, Rihanna also commands the bedroom. “Suck my cockiness, lick my persuasion” / “I love it, I love it, I love it when you eat it” are lyrics so aggressively sexual and yet so explicitly chosen for their shock factor that you can’t help but admire Rihanna’s chutzpah. The cherry on top is that she delivers all of these lines as if she couldn’t care less. “Cockiness” is aided by some top-notch production from Bangladesh, while “Birthday Cake” gets dark and dirty thanks to The-Dream. (This song would have been the album highlight did it not inexplicably fade out after 1:18 – possibly the album’s most glaring fault! But fear not – Rihanna is apparently recording a full version, perhaps for a repackage? I am a cynic.)

Of course, in case you were in doubt, Rihanna has a heart too – ballad “We All Want Love” attempts and fails to recreate the epicness of Rated R‘s closer “The Last Song”, and is possibly an album low-point, although Rihanna sings earnestly. “Drunk On Love” is more successful – with a chunkier beat behind her, Rihanna sings about being intoxicated to the point that “nothing can sober me up”, and the desperation in her vocal is palpable.  After this, we’re back to the template of previous Rihanna songs, and “Roc Me Out” is a retread of “Rude Boy” that is perfectly acceptable, if hardly groundbreaking. The song is fine, but it would sound a lot better if “Rude Boy” hadn’t existed. “Watch n’ Learn” incorporates reggae flavour (which was one of the best and most welcome aspects of Loud) and improves upon Loud‘s “It’s Raining Men”. “Watch n’ Learn” is raunchy, as is much of the album, but it’s also laid-back, chilled and bouncy all at once. The closing ballad “Farewell” is somewhat overwrought, but Rihanna’s vocals are impressive and the lyrics speak about wishing a close friend / lover well, and selflessly not holding them back despite wanting to – which is a unique song topic. “Somebody’s gonna miss you / Somebody’s gonna wish that you were here” is a tender lyric that succeeds where “We All Want Love” fell a little bit flat.

Talk That Talk‘s bonus tracks are all decent. “Red Lipstick” reunites Rihanna with Chase & Status for some grimy dubstep; “Do Ya Thing” is another upbeat urban pop song; “Fool In Love” is a muted, electro-ballad that would have fit nicely in the main body of the album. In summary, Talk That Talk does not take the title of Rihanna’s best album; but given the circumstances under which Rated R was produced, that album is pretty special and unique and I wouldn’t wish her to go through that again. Talk That Talk perhaps ties with Good Girl Gone Bad for second place. It’s an album of contradictions – relentlessly sexual and yet unwittingly heartfelt in places; startlingly aggressive and yet disarmingly laissez-faire; there’s a bunch of hit songs on this record that nobody else could have delivered quite as well as Rihanna, and yet a lot of these songs are clearly inspired by earlier Rihanna hits. I believe that Talk That Talk is a calculated album designed for maximum chart success, but at the same time it sounds exactly like who Rihanna is and precisely what kind of music she personally wants to release. It’s a win-win situation for all concerned, including the listener – Talk That Talk is an irresistible ride.

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birthday list.

Okay y’all. Rather than moan about my job, which I really shouldn’t do because at least I have a permanent job where I receive a decent salary each month and I know I do my work decently, I will talk about positive things. It’s my birthday in 2 weeks! So here is my list of things that I want (with pictorial accompaniments).

A car.

Y’all don’t need a picture of a car. This isn’t going to happen anyway because it’s far too expensive. But I have my driving test in 2 and a half weeks and I need to pass. I hope that I will! And once I pass, I will be getting a car sharpish so that I can drive to work, also drive to London to see Loverman, and avoid the Megabus which may be cheap, but took me 4 hours to get from London Victoria coach station to my home yesterday. This is ridiculous. So, yes, car.

Money.

Self-explanatory. Who doesn’t want money?

French Connection coat.

My beautiful leather and fur jacket, after 4 years, is falling apart. I have loved it since the first day I owned it, but I am going to have to say goodbye. This will be my replacement. It’s a classier and much warmer version of the Gestapo coat (which has a similar cut but doesn’t hug the body so much, and is made of a nylon-scratchy material), perfect for these cold wintry days and without the military-style epaulettes on the shoulder. I tried it on in French Connection and the wool and cashmere blend felt divine. Toby and even one of the shop assistants both loved it. I will be going halves on this coat with my mum and I can’t wait; because it’s not waterproof however, I’ll need to buy a new black umbrella to keep myself dry in the absence of a hood. After all, I don’t want my lovely new coat to get wet and thus spoiled!

Desperate Housewives Season 6.

Because this is my favourite show on television, and I don’t get to watch it when it’s running, so I have to catch up on DVD. The DVDs become my crack for a few weeks. Toby and I saw this being advertised on tv, and I subtly informed him that this might be a good present. I think my tactful hint might have been noticed, and so I reckon Toby will be buying this for me.

Emporio Armani Diamonds for Men – EDT or After Shave Balm

One of my signature fragrances, I love how this fragrance is soft and elegant, yet fizzy and sparkly at the same time. Kinda like diamonds.

Usher – Raymond v. Raymond deluxe

Because Raymond v. Raymond was ok, but not quite good enough for me to purchase it. And Versus is nowhere near good enough for me to buy it on its own. However, the two combined are worth my money. Or the money of whomever buys it for me.

Drake – Thank Me Later

Okay, I was incredibly late to catch on to Drake. I had heard about him for ages, but pointedly ignored all of the hype as I decided “he can’t be that good”. I was wrong. I heard “Best I Ever Had” on Nicki Minaj’s Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape and that became one of my songs for when I think about Toby. I fell in love with that song, and then with “Find Your Love” and “Over” on Teairra Marí’s (by the way, BLAZING HOT) mixtape Point Of No Return mixtape. It turned out that all 3 songs were by Drake, and at this point I decided to reassess him and download his album. It is excellent, and he is talented (and also improved upon Kanye’s 808s and Heartbreak sound). So I would like my own copy of this album.

Rihanna – book.

This is a book about the journey and conception of Rihanna’s Rated R album and Last Girl on Earth tour. I loved everything about her most recent album (and “Only Girl” has been a disappointment to me in contrast) and it became a sonic bible to me over the last 11 months. The lyrics, the sound, the videos, the look – it was all on point. It was deep, it was painful, and it celebrated that pain and exposed it and worked it out. I would love this book to commemorate what has become a very special album for me personally.

DVDs

– Rec 2, The Backup Plan. Horror and romcom – to keep me balanced.

Emporio Armani underwear

Okay, I love these boxer shorts, regardless of Cristiano Ronaldo being in them. And I love my boyfriend so much that even Ronaldo pales into insignificance. That is a lot. Anyway, I love these boxer shorts, and I can’t find them anywhere. And only in red and black online. So if you find the black and white ones for sale, just like old whatshisname here is wearing, please give me a heads up! Or even buy them for me. Thanks!

Chaos by Donna Karan.

This is the fragrance I have fallen in love with that I do not yet possess. If I don’t receive this, I will have to buy it for myself. It smells of ice and etherealness and subtlety. I adore it, and its mystery is something I hope will rub off on me if I manage to own it.

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So now you have an insight into a few of the things that I crave! Just writing that and looking at the pretty pictures make me feel better. Nothing like a bit of online window shopping!  See y’all soon xx

Quiet Storm – Inspirations. (download)

So it’s been 9 months since I released Quiet Storm, my most recent album, and I recently had the idea of compiling the songs that inspired the record so that you could hear some of the wonderful tracks that inspire me. Some you will know, some I hope will be new to you and can open up your ears to new songs and sounds 🙂

Putting together all the songs last night, I realised I have far too many to keep to one album’s worth, so treat this as Volume 1: these are the songs that directly influenced songs, production or lyrics on the album.  Volume 2 will be more abstract, a mood piece which had songs that were instrumental when I was first creating the concept of the album.  As I’m starting to get ready to think about my next record, something that I like to do is think about what I want to say, and what songs epitomise the sound and concept I am going for: a sonic mood board, if you will. Volume 2 will try to recreate the sonic mood board I had for Quiet Storm.

So keep a look out for that, but for now here is Quiet Storm – The Inspirations (Volume 1) (click). Enjoy!  Liner notes are below 🙂

1. Mary J. Blige – Mary Jane – inspired the hook of “All Night Long”

2. Janet Jackson – Discipline – inspired the general feel of “All Night Long” – before I heard “Discipline”, “All Night Long” was my envisioning of how the track would sound.

3. Chris Brown – Take You Down – namechecked in the lyrics to “All Night Long”

4. The-Dream – Falsetto – inspired the general feel and production of “Hook Boy”

5. Beyoncé – Diva – inspired the hook in “Hook Boy”

6. Delta Goodrem – Believe Again – inspired the production and gradual build in “Secret”

7. Cassie – Nobody But You – sampled in “Touch Me”

8. Jennifer Lopez – Waiting For Tonight (Hex Hector Mix) – I was listening to this song when I started writing “Quiet Storm”

9. Danity Kane – Right Now – inspired the general feel and piano / bass lines in “Quiet Storm”

10. Lil Wayne – Got Money – namechecked in the bridge in “Quiet Storm”

11. Mariah Carey – H.A.T.E.U. – the full song had not come out, but I was obsessively listening to the LQ snippet of this song and it inspired the production and rewrite of “Jump Off (Part II)”.

12. Solid Harmonie – When We Kiss (Missing You) – sampled in “Kissing You”; important for the concept of Quiet Storm as a whole.

13. Mis-Teeq – It’s Beginning To Feel Like Love – sampled in “In Love”

14. Rihanna – Umbrella – inspired the vocal ad-libs towards the end of “Come Home To Me”

15. Janet Jackson – Take Care – inspired the backing vocals in “Come Home To Me”; again, another song that was instrumental in the concept of the album.

16. Paulina Rubio – Sexi Dance – sampled in “Last Chance”.

17. Ciara – Work – sampled in “Last Chance”; the song was originally inspired as a cross between this and…

18. Beyoncé – Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix) – …this! I loved the hard R&B feel that just made you want to dance, I enjoyed the fearlessness of having an extended mix and ending an album on an uptempo.

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There you have it! Keep an eye out for volume 2, and of course, if you haven’t yet heard my album Quiet Storm, you can download it here 🙂 Much love 🙂

come home to me. (new single!)

Without further ado (I know I’m late! I meant to release this in conjunction with Valentine’s Day, but Valentine’s came and went… sorry!) I present to you the third single from my album Quiet Storm, which you can preview here on my myspace and download from this blog post through Megaupload.  The song is called “Come Home To Me”, and it’s a mainstream pop/R&B ballad incorporating elements of Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella”, as well as a ballad production inspired by The-Dream.  Check out the song – I really hope that you enjoy it!

To finish, please download my album – it’s free – and I hope that you like it.  I will close by adding a little bit of info about the song, taken from the Quiet Storm track walkthrough I did for the album release.  Thankyou xxx

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Come Home To Me

For me, this track is definitely going to be a single from Quiet Storm.  It’s very short and sweet, very immediate, and the beat is quite reggae-inspired, despite the overall feel of the production being straightforward R&B/pop.  The thunder rumbling at the very start of the song fits in with the overarching idea of a “Quiet Storm”, but it also represents the lyrical motif of the song, saying that although we had storms in the past, it’s time to get over it.  It’s about a lover who may have been unfaithful or made mistakes, so you had a bust-up, but now you’re ready to forgive them and give things another try.  It’s about recognising that sometimes, even though we may try to be strong and independent, ultimately we have to forgive someone’s transgressions and not cut our nose off to spite our face.  That’s not always the right message, and sometimes someone may do something too serious to be able to let them back in.  But when it’s the little things that cause a breakup, with time you can see whether it’s really worth being alone or whether it’s better to forgive and make up.  The song steals from Rihanna’s “Umbrella” towards the end, with the “forever ever ever eh eh eh” at the end – that was just a little bit of fun!  The backing vocals in the second verse are also inspired from a nu-classic Janet Jackson track, “Take Care”, from her 20 Y.O. album, which IMO is one of her best works and seriously underrated – another track which infused the concept and production within my album.

quiet storm track walkthrough (part iii).

(clicky) Quiet Storm (album download) (clicky)

Here’s part 3 of the track walkthrough for my new album Quiet Storm.  Enjoy, download the album if you haven’t heard it (at the link above or the one at the foot of the page) and find parts 1 & 2 of the track walkthrough too, if you haven’t read those. 🙂

12. Rain (Interlude)

This was nothing more than a simple segue between “Quiet Storm”, and the literal idea of a storm, and the next track, “Jump Off (Part II)” which has a very dark, sad feel.  I thought that the rain was effective, atmospheric, and also reminds me of the interludes on Janet Jackson’s janet. album where there would be short, simple interludes of rain and wind which would keep the mood flowing.

13.  Jump Off (Part II)

This song is another of my favourite songs on the album, and is one of the more personal tracks also.  Lyrically, it discusses feeling like even when you fall for people, they can tell you the nicest things but by next week, you’re old news and they’re onto the next.  It’s about feeling used, even if you were down for it at the time, but realising that just because someone tells you that you’re beautiful or that they love you, doesn’t mean they mean it.  So in the song, I’m wondering whether even in all my dalliances over the past couple of years, I’ve let my heart get hurt all the time when it was just about sex and I should have just focused on the fun.  Musically, I like the combination of the deep beats and the music box / piano over the top, which gives it a combination of darkness and fragility.  Originally, the song was going to be a straightforward R&B ballad (and you can hear a snippet of the original version on my High Fashion mixtape), but having heard The-Dream’s original version of Mariah Carey’s “H.A.T.E.U.” (as well as the snippet of her version, on the fantastic Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel) I was inspired to totally revamp the track, restructuring the lyrics somewhat as well as making the music much more R&B and much more emotional and sensitive.  I think it worked, and I was so pleased with the way that this track turned out.

14. Devastate Me

This song is based on a track that is allegedly an instrumental from Britney Spears’ Blackout sessions (IMO, her best album along with In The Zone), since I found it on a mixtape with lots of other songs.  If you listen closely in the background, then you can hear what sounds like tiny snatches of Britney’s voice once or twice.  Anyway, I liked the dark, intense feel of the track, along with its pulsing beats and menacing strings, so I just decided to write some lyrics over the top of it.  The idea of feeling devastated seemed to go with the dramatic nature of the music, and lyrically the song speaks about somebody having you wrapped around their finger, and even though you might be in love with them or have formed some attachment to that person, you still know that they’re not necessarily good for you, and at any moment they could let you down or leave you in the dust, and you’ve put so much effort into loving them that you’re left with nothing – devastated.  The idea of knowing this is where the line “you done tricked me twice so the shame is not on you” comes in – you know exactly what you’re letting yourself in for, you just can’t make yourself resist, however hard you try.  It’s a tricky and intense situation!

15. Kissing You

This song was a really happy accident!  Some of the tracks on here took months of planning and development to come to fruition production-wise, whereas this took maybe a day or so.  I remember waking up in the morning and just having the refrain “Kissing you…. all I can think of is” going round and round in my brain.  One of the songs that inspired the whole nocturnal, R&B/dark concept of the album (when I was deciding what kind of feel I wanted to explore for my next project) was the track “When We Kiss (Missing You)” by an old girl group, Solid Harmonie, which I used to listen to when I was about 13 or 14!  So I doubt many people will recognise the sample of that song, which is what this track is based upon.  The deep, sparse bass and Japanese martial-arts type yell are from that song, as well as the bridge (which sneakily uses the girls’ vocals as backing, while I sing over the top).  I accentuated the oriental aspect of the production by adding some piano and shamisen to the mix, as well as extra beats towards the end.  I wanted the song to be mysterious, as its about an obsession that you can’t explain or logically untangle, but something that you can’t resist and just have to follow.  It’s where your heart rules your head, be it through lust or love.  The song is focused on the physical (a kiss) but also the emotional, of a love arriving when you least expect it and taking over your world.  The negative (as explored in “Jump Off (Part II)” and “Devastate Me”) ceding to the positive (this song and the next).  Love triumphing.  This song is one of the sexier songs on the record, even though it’s not really about sex.  It’s one of my favourites too, as it really has that mysterious, nocturnal feel that I wanted to be the overarching theme of the album.  It’s subtle, yet intense.

16. In Love

Like the last track, this song is largely built upon a girl-group sample.  In this case, it’s Mis-Teeq’s “It’s Beginning To Feel Like Love”, which was an album track from Eye Candy.  I liked the spacey feel of the song (a track that didn’t make it into the album or the mixtape was actually called “Space”), and I wanted to write a ballad that was very chilled, that you could relax to.  I said that I thought “Secret” was possibly the most romantic track on Quiet Storm, but perhaps this gives it a run for its money.  It’s just about how happy love can make you feel, and how unexpected the intensity of that happiness can be.  It’s about feeling untouchable in the midst of love, and about all your pain being healed by your feelings for that other person, and their reciprocation of those feelings towards you.  It’s a very optimistic, healing track lyrically, and the calmness of the production adds to that.  I added in some piano (again!) in the bridge to give it a little extra kick towards the end.

17. Come Home To Me

For me, this track is definitely going to be a single from Quiet Storm.  It’s very short and sweet, very immediate, and the beat is quite reggae-inspired, despite the overall feel of the production being straightforward R&B/pop.  The thunder rumbling at the very start of the song fits in with the overarching idea of a “Quiet Storm”, but it also represents the lyrical motif of the song, saying that although we had storms in the past, it’s time to get over it.  It’s about a lover who may have been unfaithful or made mistakes, so you had a bust-up, but now you’re ready to forgive them and give things another try.  It’s about recognising that sometimes, even though we may try to be strong and independent, ultimately we have to forgive someone’s transgressions and not cut our nose off to spite our face.  That’s not always the right message, and sometimes someone may do something too serious to be able to let them back in.  But when it’s the little things that cause a breakup, with time you can see whether it’s really worth being alone or whether it’s better to forgive and make up.  The song steals from Rihanna’s “Umbrella” towards the end, with the “forever ever ever eh eh eh” at the end – that was just a little bit of fun!  The backing vocals in the second verse are also inspired from a nu-classic Janet Jackson track, “Take Care”, from her 20 Y.O. album, which IMO is one of her best works and seriously underrated – another track which infused the concept and production within my album.

The final part, iv, coming soon!  Keep it locked, and thankyou all for the support once again. 🙂

(clicky) Quiet Storm (album download) (clicky)

russian roulette. (Rihanna single review)

EDIT: 3 new songs from Rated R reviewed HERE!  Enjoy! 🙂

EDIT 2: the full Rated R album review HERE

Rihanna’s new song, “Russian Roulette”, premiered today and it has taken a lot of people by surprise.  Namely, because the Ne-Yo produced track is a dark ballad.  Now, a lot of people don’t like Rihanna when she sings songs like “Unfaithful” and “Take A Bow”.  They tend to prefer her uptempo material, and with songs like “Umbrella”, “S.O.S.” and “Sell Me Candy”, who can argue with that?  But “Take A Bow” was a fantastic, simple song with a touching lyric and nice piano chords, and this new track also delivers the goods.

Rihanna’s vocals have improved – she still sounds somewhat like a goat, but this is probably one of the best vocals she has turned in.  I remember when she first came on the scene, and seeing her perform “Pon De Replay” live, I saw some vocal potential which had yet to be developed.  That potential seemed to disappear during the campaigns for A Girl Like Me and Good Girl Gone Bad (a fantastic album, but one driven more by production and songwriting than the talents of the singer herself).  In short, she often sounded like a goat bleating, and many many blogs and people I know have compared her to that animal.  On “Russian Roulette”, there is less bleating and more vocal promise – the dark lyrics and strong melody allow Rihanna to stretch her vocal cords without ever sounding strained or out of her comfort zone.

Lyrically, the song is smart too.  It never uses the words “russian roulette” (perhaps avoiding censorship from over-zealous radio stations, though references to “guns” and “triggers” are still present) but leaves the metaphor ambiguous – she could be talking about an actual game of Russian roulette, or she could be talking about a dangerous, damaging love. (Hello Chris Brown.) The tension between feelings of vulnerability and strength is explored as the theme of the song, and despite it being lyrically concise, words like “I’m terrified but I’m not leaving / Know that I must pass this test” convey that conflict effectively.  The song ends ambiguously, with the bridge lyric being “It’s too late to pick up the value of my life” and a gunshot signalling the song’s climax.  We don’t know whether that gunshot means that Rihanna has lost the game of Russian roulette, or whether she put the gun to her head only to survive and play another game.  Either way, it is suggested that the singer is brave enough to play the game and confront her demons / love / whatever you think the song is about.  It’s very open to interpretation.

I’ve read a lot of complaints about the song – it’s a ballad and Rihanna can’t sing them; we wanted another “Umbrella” or “Don’t Stop The Music”; we thought it would be catchier and an uptempo dance smash; it’s not edgy enough.  I was pleasantly surprised by Rihanna’s choice to use a ballad for her lead single.  I don’t think that it will be massively successful, simply because people’s idea of a smash hit record seems to be anything (particularly coming from RedOne or Ryan Tedder – *yawn*) with a 4/4 beat and vocals which repeat the same line / word / syllable over and over again (see: Lady GaGa, who has built a large part of her career on writing songs which go “mamamama papa-papa po-po-po-poker face po-po-po-po-po oh ohhhhohohoh oh oh ra ra ha ha ha ra ra ha ha ha ga ga” and then dancing around to them in silly, ‘avant-garde’ outfits).

“Russian Roulette” was not what I expected.  Like everyone else, I expected an uptempo, faux-‘edgy’ stab at R&B-rock-pop with a dance edge and a repetitive, multi-hooked chorus.  But I am pleased with what we got, which was a dark, brooding ballad showing long-overdue vocal promise and interesting lyricism to match the music and tense vocal delivery.  After getting bored with Rihanna and her awful collaboration with Maroon 5 and that annoying “Disturbia” song (“bum bum be dum bum bum be dum bum” – why is singing stupid rhythms with non-existent words deemed the high end of songwriting these days? *smh*), this song has opened my ears again and I am once more interested in what she has to offer.