Rihanna's new album is Rated R
She’s finally put down that umbERella folks! With brilliant vocals and tracks that herald in a darker edge, Rihanna’s fourth studio has a more creative feel than previous offerings and will be launched on November 20th 2009.
Showcasing the single written by Ne-Yo and Rihanna, Russian Roulette, the album is the Barbadian R&B singer’s first to receive a Parental Advisory label. There’s also much speculation as to whether it will include any tracks written about Chris Brown – Rihanna’s ex-boyfriend with whom she was involved in an altercation before the 2009 Grammy Awards. With angrier songs carrying titles on the subject of love like Stupid in Love and Cold Case Love and Rude Boy, this could well be the case.
The CD sees Rihanna working with many prestigious song-writers and producers including Chuck Harmony, Tricky Stewart, the Norwegian record producing team Stargate and Justin Timberlake. Ne-Yo has co-written many of the songs and has described Russian Roulette as a “different direction for both of us.” Rihanna specified that she wanted dark songs that had some kind of meaning “a little more morbid,” Ne-Yo says, commenting that she also says some things on this album that you’ve never heard her say before – could he be referring to the inclusion of swear words on some of the tracks? Several recordings feature iconic performers like Velvet Revolver’s Slash who plays guitar on the suitably named track, Rockstar 101 and Hard features the American rapper Young Jeezy.
Rated R reflects Rihanna’s growth as an artist and also as a songwriter but although some of the songs are dark they’re combined with more uptempo club beats and heartfelt ballads. Fans who pre-order Rates R will receive an instant download of Russian Roulette but there’s another reason you need to add this album to your collection – it’s seriously stellar… ella…ella.
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Echo is Leona Lewis's second studio album
Leona Lewis’s long-awaited album Echo contains a mixture of ballads and dance-floor anthems. It’s to be released on 16th November in the UK and can be pre-ordered from Amazon at £8.98 and £16.09.
Echo is available in three different formats – a standard edition, a deluxe edition with two extra tracks and a 32-page insert and as a download from iTunes to include two live performance songs taken from Leona’s first full UK show at Hackney Empire on 2nd November 2009.
This is Leona’s second studio album and in it, the former winner of the X-Factor has worked with an impressive range of musicians, including Justin Timberlake, John Shanks and Ne-Yo to produce thirteen tracks that combine upbeat, electro numbers with unashamedly romantic songs reminiscent of the heart rending Keep Bleeding. Leona herself has described the album as the creation of a “big, organic sound like an echo.”
The vocalist of OneRepublic, Ryan Tedder who wrote Happy, the lead single from the album and the track You Don’t Care, claims that Leona’s singing has been raised to a new level: “I pushed Lewis vocally more on this song than any song she’s ever done,” he says.
Art work on the album features Leona looking more and more like a sultry pop diva, wearing gold lamé and white satin gowns designed by Vivienne Westwood. Expect a more polished and confident performance than that achieved in the début album, Spirit with Can’t Breathe, Broken and Stop Crying Your Heart Out all strong contenders for future singles. The album has received three out of five stars from The Observer when the reviewer Peter Robinson wrote that “Echo hits its target.” And if the album pleases the likes of the Observer critics, there’s no doubt that Leona’s fans will be more than over the moon with it.
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