Rihanna showcased five tracks from her new album ‘Loud’ at the Sketch bar in London last night (October 5).
The singer oversaw a playback from the record for a number of specially invited guests and members of the media.
She described the album, due out on November 15, as “sassy and flirtatious”, telling those present: “You have to listen to it loud, that’s how it sounds best… It just makes me feel excited. I wanna dance to every song and I know that’s what people like – something that makes them dance.
“I hate when I buy an album and you’ve only got, like. four songs and you have to skip… Sometimes I’m in the shower and I don’t wanna have to get out and go from, like, number two to number eight, you know? I wanted to make an album that you could just press play.”
The tracks played demonstrated a more vibrant, dance-led sound than previous release ‘Rated R’, beginning with single ‘Only Girl In The World’, which recently made its debut online.
She also played ‘What’s My Name’, a brooding, sultry tack with a hard, heavy beat, saying: “It feels like there are no limits in the world when you play it.”
Meanwhile ‘S&M’, a high-energy, techno-edged banger, boasted her raciest lyric to date: “Sex in the air but I don’t care, I love the smell/Sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me“.
“It’s badass and in your face, but I like it,” admitted the singer.
‘Drink To That (Cheers)’ was a sleazy, synthy track with a low-slung bounce, was dedicated to “all the semi-alcoholics in the world… and the alcoholics, and the people who just drink on a Friday because it’s a weekend and they’ve got two days to recover.”
The playback closed with ‘California King Bed’, a guitar-solo laden power ballad that Rihanna described as about “being in love with someone and then falling out of love and still feeling so close to them but also feeling like you’re so far away”.
Rihanna also confirmed that collaborations with Drake and Nicky Minaj would appear on the album, and paid tribute to longtime production collaborators Stargate, saying their contribution to “goes to show how their sound is constantly changing and developing. They’ve been with me since the first album – they get me the most and they understand my evolution as well.”
