In the past weeks, pop royalty including Ke$ha and Nicki Minaj have seriously disappointed with their new releases "Die Young" and "The Boys". Songs I have already forgotten. Lady Gaga and Katy Perry are still months, maybe even years, away from releasing new material, so there was a lot riding on pop darling Rihanna whose new single "Diamonds" was unleashed in full today. The new offering, the lead single from Rihanna's upcoming seventh album, came out of nowhere. Reports did not start circulating about a new album from the artist until early this month. However, the upcoming record should not come as too much a surprise since Rihanna has been releasing a new album every year since 2009. It may be a treat for die hard fans, but I think the girl needs to take a break for a while.
I say the artist may need a break because "Diamonds" fails in comparison to past Rihanna gems such as "Disturbia" and "We Found Love". As a lead offering, it certainly does not excite me for what is coming up on the artist's new album. Right from the intro, I knew I was in for a rough ride. My attention was not grabbed and I was forced to get through the rest. Rihanna's voice sounds different. That is because the artist is actually using her real voice for once and it is not really pretty, maybe she really does need an excessive dose of Auto-Tune to save this wreck. Hearing the artist tell her fans to "shine bright like a diamond" caused my breakfast to almost come up. The lyrics are simple, boring and another reason for my less-than-thrilling review.
Not everything about the track is horrible. In fact, it has one sparkling quality that truly shines like a diamond. Instead of listening to what was coming out of Rihanna's mouth, my attention was captured by the beautiful, soft background beats that sound as if they were ripped straight from an 80s midtempo love song. The progression and structure are other highlights, so it is safe to say the song may succeed due to the pros behind the production and not necessarily the artist taking credit. Will the song be another hit for the artist? More than likely. Her fans, and the rest of the Top 40 loving population eat up anything she puts out, but they really need to focus on the content. There's nothing substantial here.
"Diamonds" will not go down on my list of all-time favorites from the Barbados-native female singer. Those spots are saved for singles from her second and third albums. I do not even know how to classify this new single. It's not a dance-floor ready anthem like "Where Have You Been?" or a true ballad such as "Unfaithful", but it is stuck somewhere in between. I commend Rihanna for trying to use her own voice, but it is honestly not very good. This new album could be good, it could be her first number one, but I'm not betting on it after this disappointing lead single. Take a listen and judge it for yourself.
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