Fluxblog
November 28th, 2011 1:00am

A Hopeless Place


Rihanna “We Found Love”

The sound of Rihanna’s voice is very distinct and interesting, but she rarely conveys a recognizable persona in her songs. Her biggest hits tend to dispel with lyrics entirely, so her icy, metallic tone can carry purely melodic or rhythmic hooks. She often elevates so-so material just by showing up – in some ways, she’s like the vocal equivalent of a really cool effects pedal. “We Found Love,” her latest hit, makes use of that ineffable x factor in her voice, but it’s powerful mainly because it pushes her beyond her typical phrasing. The chorus is basically a mantra, but Rihanna’s reading is dynamic – she reaches into the high end of her register, and in the process reveals a vulnerability that rarely comes into play on her up-tempo numbers. Calvin Harris’ hard-charging Eurodisco track brings all of the heaviness here, while she focuses on sounding like a person who has truly found love in a hopeless place. She sounds elated, relieved and overwhelmed. It’s a breakthrough for her as a vocalist, and the best and most moving song of her career to date.

Buy it from Amazon.

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