Rihanna - Talk That Talk

THE biggest star in the world right now releases her 6th album (in almost as many years!)

Spyke

Today I was very excited to go and purchase this album on my lunch break from work.  Despite only being released yesterday I have been indulging in this treat since it leaked over a week ago; after a lack of internet for the past month I had to venture into a Weatherspoons to use their Wi-Fi to download the album.  So with the album only being a moderate 38 minutes long it means that I have been able to give the album a full run through on both my commute to and from work - it really does make traversing the tube so much more fun.  So here is my blow by blow account of this little gem...

01 You Da One

After releasing the incredible What's My Name as the second cut from Loud I had high expectations for what this album was going to offer in terms of follow up to We Found Love.  Quite frankly I was disappointed.  With Dr Luke behind the track as a producer, I was expecting something more than this non-event given his back catalogue with Katy Perry (Hot N Cold, California Gurls, ET, Last Friday Night).  That said - just like Teenage Dream this track is a grower and the subtlties really just take a while to shine through.  Second single wise I'd have personally prefered Drake and Rihanna's recent release Take Care as that is a total 10/10 moment for me.

02 Where Have You Been

Just brilliant.  It's always great to have a gem like this on your album to keep those sales going well through in to the next year.  This really is the S&M of Talk That Talk; so immediate and in your face, just so so catchy and almost guaranteed to get a release as single #3.  No doubt (like S&M) this track will suffer from massive overplay and is definitely not going to rank as highly in my estimation this time next year.  This track is really the single to set the mood of the album and really builds the mood and pace up ready for the true star of the show...

03 We Found Love

You can here my thoughts about this here and it really is fantastic; currently enjoying a nice stint as a transatlantic #1.  After her performance on the X Factor on Sunday, Rihanna has set herself up for a fantastic sales boost and for the song and great opening numbers for the album; she managed to place over 22 songs within the top 200 in today's midweeks as all her tracks see a surge.

04 Talk That Talk

The title track from the album is currently the best performing album track on itunes at the moment and is likely to chart in the top 40 on Sunday.  Jay Z teams up with Rihanna for a third time in her career on a toned down Rude Boy esque track.  This track falls somewhere in the middle ground between Umbrella and Run This Town and has a great load of synths but just falls short of being *great*.  Given how Rihanna is one for mining an album for all the potential singles possible, then this track will no doubt get a single release.

05 Cockiness (Love It)

I don't Love It at all really.  There is a great play on words: 'Suck My Cock[iness], Lick my persuasion' which is very much a testiment to Rihanna's playful and sexual nature.  However I find the 'Boy I wa-ant [Yooooouuuuuuuu]' just really awkward and offputting.  Easily the worst track on the album.

06 Birthday Cake

I was very much in two minds about this to begin with; it just felt so incomplete and yet it fades out at just the right time to leave you wanting more!  The track says all it need to in just 78 seconds, and after learning from Oli that the track is that that way because Rihanna ran out of time to record it all, I'm not sure what the remainder of the track was going to offer us.  Having initially rated this track 1 star on my itunes ratings; I have subsequentially given this quite the boost.  Though the track listing amuses me as Rihanna sings 'I wanna fuck you right now' just as this track fades into We All Want Love.

07 We All Want Love

It's at this point I began to think that we were falling into the filler teritory.  After the killer first few tracks this is definitely where the album tries to take a step back, it's the dilemma of how to keep  the uptempo energy going whilst taking the pace down a notch.

08 Drunk On Love

If you hadn't noticed already this album has a theme of love running through it.  I think for me this album represents the drunken pull to Loud's night in the club.  After having a night of partying this album tries to capture the excitement and sexual nature of what happens after; I can only wonder whether we'll get the hangover next.  This track seems to be quite a popular choice among several of my friends but it has yet to strike a chord me yet.

09 Roc Me Out

This is just incredible; it took me a few plays to realise just how intense and gangster this track really is.  It's like Rated R's G4L but with just ten times more swagger (yes I used that word, but mean it without the pop essensce it has recently garnered from Maroon 5 and Cher Lloyd).  I really feel this is going as hardcore as pop is ever going to get; I would love this track to get a release but can't imagine it not getting a sexually explicit video to go with it.

10 Watch n' Learn

This is the sort of track I would expect to find on Beyonce's 4.  I don't really understand what the lyrics are trying to say, why can't you kiss back Rihanna?  I just don't get it.

11 Farewell

What happens when you take my favourite Rihanna album track and re-work it slightly for the new album?  Well you automatically get me as a fan.  This track is basically just a Firebomb part two (if you don't know the song then I suggest you get on it asap) with some verses which aren't quite good but a much better chorus.  What a magnificant ending to the album.


I would compare this to a highly sexual charged Good Girl Gone Bad.  With the that incredible power 5 used to open the album most people will be sold.  Then the album takes a bit of a dip as we fill it out a tad then we end on a lovely Farewell/Take A Bow to say bye.  Plus we get to see Rihanna go all guns blazin' on the track Roc Me Out.  After educating my parents to Rihanna's entire discography over the summer whilst I was at home (both mum and dad know Loud word for word) I was tempted to buy parents a copy so they could be reminded of me and stop the house from being quite so quiet.  However think this album might be a bit much; it's one thing naively pretending that What's My Name is nice and innocent but getting them to listen through Birthday Cake is another.

Nadia Oh - Beauty & A Beast

I'm enjoying this a lot at the moment...

McLovin

If you're into the dance maestros Swedish House Mafia, that's a good chance you'll like this album track from Nadia Oh's second album, 'Colours'. It shares a similar euphoric-synth vibe, with a fine performance from Nadia Oh.

Like her 2008 debut album 'How Like Wow', Space Cowboy is the producer at the helm. By far and away his most famous collaborations are with Lady Gaga, including 'Starstruck' and 'So Happy I Could Die'. Seeing as these are two of my favourite Gaga cuts, it's no surprise I like his work with Nadia Oh.

However, unlike songs such as 'My Egyptian Lover' (vid here), 'Beauty & A Beast' is a lot more conventionally accessible. While it still retains some wonderful Nadia Oh idiosyncrasies (like her many 'Raaaaawwwrrrrr's!), it is happy to be a straight up pop song rather than an edgy dance number. This is probably why I like it so much. Plus any song that rhymes 'She's a beast, yeah/in the sheets, yeah' has got to be a winner in my book.*

*(My book of 'Slightly Embarrassing Yet Highly Enjoyable In A Kinky Way Lyrics', that is).

Cher Lloyd Feat. Mike Posner - With Ur Love

Da-da-da-da-dum-dum-da-dum-dum...

McLovin

Looking set to chart in the top three on Sunday, Cher Lloyd's second single is an effortless improvement on the divisive 'Swagger Jagger'.

Cher was by far my favourite act on the X Factor last year. Although many find her the musical equivalent of marmite, I thought her 'Turn My Swag On' audition was incredible, with only her subsequent performances of 'Stay' coming near to reaching its benchmark. So I've always had high hopes that, with the right song, Cher could demonstrate some of that natural exuberance we initially saw. While 'With Ur Love' isn't quite it (look out for album track 'Beautiful People', which may be the song I've been waiting for), it comes very close.

Owing a passing resemblance to Nicki Minaj's 'Your Love' - as did her live performance on the X Factor last Sunday -the single is a relaxed mid-tempo number which improves with each listen. Although I was originally worried that the chorus wasn't particularly memorable, it's quite possible I was distracted by the bridge, by far my favourite part of the song. 'All of them other boys can walk away/they ain't even in the game, You've got this swag, You've got this attitude/wanna hear you say my name'. I love Cher's higher vocal range, and it's here that it's put on best display.

It may not be a typical response, but I feel there's a really endearing side to Cher's personality which often gets obscured by 'swag' this and 'hater' that. This single restores my faith in the possibility of her having a long-term pop future. And even if Mike Posner's lame 'first base, second base' verse detracts and slightly derails the song's progress, it's amazing to think it's just over a year ago that Cher and her sore throat were wheezing over a version of his 'Cooler Than Me'. No matter which way you look at it, that's some progress!