Rihanna - Unapologetic (Album Review)

Having never been a big fan of Rihanna I approached this album with hesitant curiosity. Talk That Talk felt like a slightly confused and rushed effort, peaking with some epic pop tracks but more often than not falling somewhere in middling territory as a throwaway full-length consisting of some great singles and some truly forgettable tracks that leant little to the overall experience. Unapologetic is a much better full listening experience, the songs here feel more developed and there's a surprising amount of experimentation. It's a perfectly fitting title, Ms Fenty will no doubt get a lot of flack for duetting with her abusive ex Chris Brown on the sticky sweet Nobody's Business as well as mining a variety of influences to construct the tracks here.

What marks this particular album apart from her previous output is the emotional vulnerability that comes across, in stark contrast to the defiantly confidant Rated R. Stay featuring Mikky Ekko is perhaps one of the most unlikely Rihanna tracks I have come across, a subtle introspective and nuanced ballad, yet it's absolutely exquisite with an undeniably strong vocal performance. What Now features a belting vocal with a great melody and suitably epic instrumentation; it's the kind of track you would expect to hear on a Beyoncé album, and while Rihanna doesn't have the vocal chops to match the beloved Bey, she certainly gives it her all and it works.

The latter half of the album delves deep into emotional territory, dealing with the complications of intense love and flawed relationships while the first half is much more experimental and interesting in terms of production. Switching from woozy sonic trips and drug-referencing lyrics recalling The Weeknd to aggressive electro and dubstep courtesy of Chase & Status and David Guetta. Guetta's hyper masculine beats are always most interesting when paired with a strong female vocal and Rihanna does a good job with him on Right Now and it's interesting that instead of attempting to create another We Found Love this is the only four-on-the-floor club-ready song here and yet it's the second shortest track, clocking in at only three minutes and acting as more of a transitional cut rather than any kind of centrepiece.

Unapologetic moves on from the power pop and dance of Talk That Talk in favor of more hip-hop influenced beats and hazy RnB. Get it Over With's paired-down beat and lush string sounds bring Rihanna into more left-field territory, at any moment you'd expect Abel Tesfaye or Frank Ocean to join in, as do the vocal pitch effects and sonic manipulation on Numb. The Brandy-esque vocal turn on Jump wears its influence on its sleeve and the use of Genuwine's Pony lyrics is unexpected but when the dubstep drop hits the audacity of it is grin-inducing thanks to the slick and assured production. It's true that the album pilfers unashamedly from other artists, from The Weeknd to Michael Jackson, and you get the feeling that a lot of drugs were involved in the creation process, more specifically Marijuana and other downers. It's a dream-like experience, most notably on Loveeeeeee Song (just in case you didn't know this was Rihanna's 7th album there are 7 'e's in the spelling of Love here of course), and perhaps the production outshines Rihanna herself at times, but it's impossible to deny Unapologetic's strong points.

With album number 7 Rihanna branches out musically and reveals a more vulnerable side which expands her overtly-sexualised persona and adds more depth to her as an artist. Personally I think this is one of her best efforts, certainly her most dense and varied, and I'd rather see her take more interesting leaps such as this than rely on bubble-gum pop as she served up on Loud. Unapologetic is just that, an uncompromising entanglement of musical styles laid down with equal amounts of fun and raw emotion and it hints at a longevity and crossover appeal that I wouldn't have previously expected Rihanna to have. If she continues to try new things and bring in more interesting influences to her work without watering them down the way she did previously then the future could be even brighter for this troubled star.

Film Review: Cosmopolis

As a big fan of David Cronenberg and an even bigger fan of Don DeLillo I was certainly looking forward to this adaptation of DeLillo's lesser known 2003 novel. Deciding to adapt a novel that was released to a lukewarm reception amongst critics is a brave move on the part of Cronenberg, especially when the narrative takes place inside a limousine all on the same day and is mostly made up of dialogue between the protagonist and a cast of supporting characters who he encounters on his way to a barber shop across town.

Robert Pattison plays the protagonist in question, Eric Packer, a 28 year old billionaire whose intelligence is matched only by his equally nurtured ego. Pattison plays the character to chilling perfection, conducting all of his business from the back of his cork-lined soundproof high tech vehichle, with its multiple display panels plotting every second of the global financial market's movements. Trailed closely by his head of security, Torval, Packer meets with a plethora of his advisors, employees and concubines as he is driven through Manhatten to have his hair cut at the same barber shop where his father took him as a child. Packer's journey is hindered by traffic due to a presidential visit, anti-capitalist protests and the funeral procession of an influential rapper. In between all of this he meets repeatedly with his wife, a poet who comes from an excessively wealthy family, whom he still hasn't slept with.

Cronenberg provides the perfect directorial match to DeLillo's material, sinking his claws into the dense and darkly comic satire and transferring to the screen with great care much of the details and observations of DeLillo's examination and parody of greed, wealth and modern America. The films operates as a sociological tragic comedy, focusing on the influence of power and money and the divide between the wealthy and working classes. It's certainly pertinent to the current socio-political climate,  DeLillo has been frighteningly prophetic and insightful with a great majority of his material and Cronenberg seems to be completely engrossed with the critique, inserting just the right amount of existential angst to provoke introspective thought without overshadowing the satire. This isn't a film for everyone, the humour is far from broad and the dialogue is very calculated, but for those who like to keep their brains switched on during a film or for any fans of DeLillo or dark American satire this is a must-see.

The Life of the World to Come - The Mountain Goats; a positive review by Erol Sabadosh

Three tracks into The Life of the World to Come, the new album from The Mountain Goats, and you may be wondering where exactly it is that songwriter John Darnielle is taking us. Over the course of fifteen full length LPs (The Life of the World to Come being the sixteenth overall and the sixth since signing to label 4AD and moving away from the ultra lo-fi aesthetic of early releases to a more polished studio sound) Darnielle has explored issues ranging from drug addiction to domestic abuse, occasionally from an autobiographical perspective, and has proven to be consistently engaging and prolific in his efforts. While previous album Heretic Pride lacked a strong overarching theme, but was still a great album, Darnielle has opted to place focus on faith this time, or more specifically Christianity (although it is certainly not an album written about the Bible).

Heretic Pride opened with the immediately likeable and rousing “Sax Rohmer #1,” whereas here the listener is treated with the brooding and sparse “1 Samuel 15:23” where Darnielle embodies the character of a crystal healer who believes he is helping people with his supposed healing powers while selling self-help tapes and sewing cloaks. Each song on the album is named after a Bible verse which somehow relates to it and in this instance the chosen passage reflects judgement on the character within the song for rejecting the word of God. Rather than preaching the Bible Darnielle juxtaposes the fictional and autobiographical narratives within his songs with Biblical references in a variety of ways that add extra depth to his characters and narratives; he is not trying to convert people to Christianity, nor is he entirely challenging the Christian faith, he is simply writing songs the way that he always has but with an emphasis on religion or faith as an overarching theme or reference.

The second track is a raucous one compared to the muted opener, recalling the wild strumming and wailing evident in Darnielle’s earlier work, and it’s oddly followed by the most radio-friendly pop song on the album, “Philippians 3:20-21,” which could have just as easily appeared on Heretic Pride. The extreme variation in style of these first three songs proves to be rather jarring, but thereafter the album settles into a predominantly down-tempo and introspective balladry that tends to favour piano and the violin arrangements of Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire/Final Fantasy) over Darnielle’s distinctly rough guitar playing. This places the album in a similar category to his low-key and greatly underrated 2002 effort Tallahassee and the more recent Get Lonely, which may indicate that it won’t be quite as instantly well-received as its predecessor.

Darnielle has made a surprising album, choosing not to pursue the more commercial and accessible pop-potential that marked his last LP while focusing on a theme that may split fan opinions, but regardless of expectations the fact is that there are songs here that will sit comfortably alongside some of his most beautiful and subtle work ("Genesis 30:3" is an instant classic, and "1 John 4:16" is similarly gorgeous). On “Matthew 25:21” Darnielle describes the day he left his tour to visit his dying mother-in-law in hospital, and it is surely one of the most raw and affecting songs he has written, reminding of his ability to convey complicated human emotions through bold and vivid imagery. The album also ends with one of the darkest Mountain Goats songs ever, “Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace,” which features a particularly haunting piano arrangement that glides over ominous bass drones with lyrics that depict the journey of a murdering drug addict who is driving to Mexico through a seemingly apocalyptic storm. The Life of the World to Come is a mature and complex album by an incredibly talented songwriter who doesn’t seem to be running out of steam any time soon. God bless you John Darnielle.

Listen to The Mountain Goats on Myspace