It’s difficult not to act the pop sleuth as you listen to this fourth album from Rihanna. However, it doesn’t take Hercule Poirot to guess who and what is being referenced on ‘Cold Case Love’, as the singer accuses, “What you did to me was a crime”. In part, at least, Rated R must be read as Rihanna’s musical response to the much-publicised domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her then boyfriend, Chris Brown, back in February.
Irrespective of the autobiographical context, Rated R is a majestic pop record. It is glittering and dark, songs like’ Russian Roulette’ and ‘Fire Bomb’ bristling with often violent metaphors. The many collaborators who’ve brought their wares to the table – everyone from Justin Timberlake (co-producer of ‘Cold Case Love’), rapper Jeezy (‘Hard’) to riff-peddling guitar legend Slash (‘Rockstar 101’) – have helped create an album that, though diverse in style, is almost uniformly satisfying. There are the skittering electronics and dub heavy bass echoes of ‘Wait Your Turn’, the Latin frisson of ‘Te Amo’ and the skewed electro-pop of ‘G4L’.
Elsewhere, dancefloor belter ‘Rude Boy’ – replete with withering verbal barbs – may depict our girl as sexually assertive, but balancing this we have the likes of piano-led balled ‘Stupid In Love’, a song that betrays the singer’s vulnerabilities. Still, in the main, the tone is one of defiance, musically and emotionally. Beaten Rihanna may once have been, but Rated R proves she remains very much unbowed.