New Direction: Anti by Rihanna (review)
Rihanna trades club beats for something self-assured and introspective
After seven albums, Rihanna could be forgiven for wanting to shake things up a bit. Her songs have long been a fixture on the radio and a favourite in clubs, and her previous albums have mostly come across as vehicles for her wildly successful singles. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Those songs were fun, danceable, and catchy as all hell. But with her eighth studio album Anti (
), Rihanna is reaching for something more.
The first thing that will strike listeners is how different Anti is from what we’ve come to expect from the singer. It’s not a total reinvention — she hasn’t taken up the hurdy-gurdy, for instance. Her fierce, confident energy is still there, but it’s slowed down and somehow even more intense. Anti has a definite sense of purpose, and beyond that, it shows us that she is ready to tone things down and take the time to really tease out what she wants to say. She explains as much right on the opening track, “Consideration” — she’s gotta do things her own way.
Most of the songs are strong enough to stand on their own, notably the single “Work,” featuring Drake. Even so, Anti feels more like a unified whole than any of Rihanna’s previous albums. It flows seamlessly from track to track, although there are definitely moments that stand out. “Desperado” has an intense swagger. “Woo” is raw and glitchy, with beats and backing vocals vaguely reminiscent of Daft Punk. She even makes a foray into psychedelia with “Same Ol’ Mistakes,” a cover of Tame Impala’s “New Person, Same Ol’ Mistakes.” This happens to be the longest track on the album, but it’s so absorbing that you’d hardly know it. By the time the album closes with intimate piano ballad “Close to You,” Rihanna has taken us in so many unexpected directions that you might need to sit down to catch your breath.
Having been in production since 2014, Anti was worth the wait. It’s powerful proof of Rihanna’s growth and depth, both as an artist and a person. The strength of its individual songs, its clear focus, and its experimentation with style all result in an album that can be listened to from beginning to end and remain interesting throughout. Anti easily stands as Rihanna’s best, most vulnerable work yet.
Anti is available at Amazon.com and on most popular streaming sites.
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