Sex sells. Even the faint whiff of sex sells, and celebrities have known this for a long time. After listening to Rihanna's latest album, "Talk That Talk," it's pretty clear that she's hopped onto the sexy pop star bandwagon, but with mixed results. "Talk That Talk" is a slick pop record that glows with high production values and catchy synth hooks, but its content leaves a bit to be desired.
There is little doubt that Rihanna is aiming below the belt on "Talk That Talk." She makes this goal pretty obvious on tracks like "Cockiness (Love It)," which contains lyrics like "Suck my cockiness/ Lick my persuasion" and "I love it, I love it/ I love it when you eat it." Double entendres and nuanced ways of referencing oral sex have certainly been conceived in the past, but subtlety is not an aim in "Talk That Talk," be it musically or lyrically. Yet, when it comes to the hooks and overall feel of the album, this is hardly a bad thing.
"Talk That Talk" is an ebullient, fun album that plays from beginning to end without a hitch. For those who want to relive the '90s trance and electro movements, Rihanna's latest has more than enough synth washes and drum breaks to satisfy. The problem with the album is that it doles out relatively few moments of purely pleasurable music and it's often repetitive.
If the synth−hook breakdown of "Where Have You Been" gets you going, chances are you will experience the same sensation during a nearly identical breakdown on "We Found Love." Rihanna's vocals are given similar treatment on most songs, as her solos give way to a crowd of overdubbed vocals to intensify each chorus. That's not to say this is a bad tactic — just about every genre of vocal music uses it — but it runs out of fuel when you hear it for the umpteenth time by the album's conclusion.
Even though the sound of the pop diva genre is pretty well defined by now, that hardly means there isn't room for imagination, and that's where "Talk That Talk" is severely lacking. The producers and writers of the music feel more comfortable working squarely within the confines of the diva sound rather than shifting or even playing with its basic principles. Rihanna has received some criticism for sounding too similar to Beyoncé, and one can hardly ignore that critique when comparing recent music from the two artists. Originality is only one criterion for artistic merit, but it's a pretty important one.
Grumbling aside, "Talk That Talk" is still a fun album. Even though the lyrics are pretty in−your−face about Rihanna's sexuality, there is just enough tongue−in−cheek humor to keep things from getting stale. It's always fun to see how pop stars change their image to get wider audiences, and "Talk That Talk" is an interesting example of this phenomenon. The music itself is lively and pretty much carefree, with the exception of more sentimental tunes like "We All Want Love," which dampen the upbeat tone of the album.
All in all, "Talk That Talk" is a nice piece of pop music: light−hearted, fun and easily digested. Rihanna has achieved phenomenal success following the model that has been set out for her by her writers and producers — let's just hope she can keep the gravy train rolling in the future. Will things get sexier? Less sexy? Maintain sexiness? Only time will tell, but you can bet plenty of people will be paying attention.
