Rihanna - Talk That Talk (Def Jam)

At an age when most musicians are wondering how to get their start, she finds herself in a mid-career quandary: she needs to do something different to stay fresh.

Album six begins well. Rihanna’s vocals can be flat and emotionless, but she breathes warmth into her performance on opener ‘You Da One’, a mid-paced, Caribbean-tinged slow-jam built on a thudding kick drum. ‘We Found Love’, produced by Calvin Harris, is a hands-in-the-air dance tune, all anthemic synth riffs and big breakdowns.

Most interesting of all are the sparse minimal drum tracks and chopped up vocals on ‘Cockiness (Love It)’ and ‘Birthday Cake’, which echo Missy Elliott and Timbaland at their best. ‘Cockiness (Love It)’ also sees Rihanna’s raunchy streak, never far away, reach new, X-rated heights. “Suck my cockiness/Lick my persuasion,” she sings over a rapid-fire repetition of the phrase: “I love it when you eat it.” Safe to say that, according to Freudian psychoanalysis, Rihanna has an oral receptive personality.

However, things fall apart from the midway point and she reverts to balladry-by-numbers on ‘We All Want Love’ and ‘Drunk on Love’. By the end of the closing track, ‘Farewell’ – a big, blowsy affair with no substance – all interest has evaporated. You’re left with the impression that, had she indulged her adventurous streak more, this would be the best album of her career. The fact that she didn’t means that, while decent enough, it’s just her latest.