Anti by Rihanna

Last week, Rihanna took the web by storm with the surprise release of her new album, much to the delight of her fans.

Indeed, the Barbadian beauty has kept us waiting with a long wait of 3 years, which left us hoping for a lot. Unfortunately, on our first listen, we’re left a little on edge. Is that all? Well, nothing really surprising… This feeling of having heard most of the music before, the album is still nice of course, but given the wait, we would have liked to be bluffed and turned upside down.

Then you listen again, start to appreciate it more and more, start to detect the soul and RnB influences in it, and you get the idea. Riri wanted to move away from the pop and commercial scene on which she made her success. In the end, the album is much more urban, stripped of the superfluous, and we find a singer who has grown up, with a second half of the album that remains softer, even slightly pop. There’s no rush of hits on this album, and we applaud her for that, because it gives us a chance to focus on the singer’s voice, which we haven’t heard much of until now.

Among our favourites, of course, is the track “Same ol’ mistakes”, a cover by the talented band Tame Impala. A real pleasant surprise with this airy, erotic track – we’d love to hear more!

We also fall under the spell of “Love on the brain”, on which we really appreciate the singer’s vocal performance. The singer is so impressive that as the track progresses she manages to transform her voice and play with it. It’s a very soulful track, with a timeless melody and Riri enjoying herself.

Another track that won us over was “Considération” with American singer SZA. A hip hop beat full of darkness on which the voices of the two singers blend perfectly, much to our delight.

All in all, as you can imagine, after several listens we were hooked. And yes, after 8 albums, Rihanna is proving that she can still renew herself and provide something new. We can’t just talk about the queen of pop any more, she’s taken it to the next level, and apparently we like it!

Photo credits : Christopher Polk/ GETTY IMAGES
ID Magazine / Def Jam Recordings

Julie Mourez