Rihanna’s fifth album in as many years has been described by the singer as "sassy,flirty and energetic" – a return to the slick pop with which she made her name following last year’s darker Rated R.
But it’s not quite that simple; after all, that album delivered the dancehall smash Rude Boy while this album closes with Love the Way You Lie (Part II), an affecting follow-up to her Eminem collaboration that takes on added significance given the domestic violence she suffered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend (no names, we don’t fancy a lawsuit).
Loud certainly (if only occasionally) lives up to the singer’s promise. It is brilliantly sassy and exuberant at times – the vast synth and shout-along chorus of Only Girl (In the World) is about the measure of it, while Nicki Minaj makes for a superb partner in crime on Raining Men, her wild, kinetic flow complementing Rihanna’s steely delivery to wicked effect.
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