Pop
Talk That Talk(Def Jam ***)
One of the upsides of the singles-oriented world we live in is that big pop stars need to produce hit songs continually, lest they be forgotten by their fickle, no-attention-span fans. And nobody works it as well as Rihanna, who releases an album every year, without a dud among them. This year's model, Talk That Talk, is notable because while it remains highly titillating - the Barbadian beauty is keen "to be your sex slave," apparently - it's largely free of the Sturm und Drang that marked such S&M-tinged, self-consciously envelope-pushing efforts as 2009's Rated R. Instead, Talk That Talk sashays with a lighter touch, as with the throbbing club-music blowout "We Found Love," which features a guest spot by Calvin Harris, or the grabby Notorious B.I.G.-sampling "Talk That Talk," which employs a guest rap by Jay-Z. Rihanna is never demure and often crass - see "Cockiness (Love It)" - but she's one Madonna acolyte who puts lessons learned from the Material Girl into practice without being overly slavish. And while not given to highly ambitious artistic or deeply personal statements, she's a hook-singing, hip-hop hitmaker par excellence with a distinctive siren's call she's too savvy to bludgeon the listener with in the manner of too many other pop divas.