Maxwell Cavaseno: Rihanna attempting a Amy Winehouse style ballad by way of Lenny Kravitz shouldn’t appeal to anyone, and the results really support that sense of apprehension the world should’ve listened to. Thomas Inskeep: This timpani-punctuated, ’60s soul throwback stands out like a bloody thumb, because you best believe nothing else on the radio sounds like it. It also sounds like nothing else in Rihanna’s discography, which makes it all the more interesting and unexpected. The song itself isn’t that exceptional, and neither is her vocal, frankly - but it’s so refreshing hearing her take a hard left turn like this that I don’t much care.
Katherine St Asaph: Anti‘s requisite Top 40 and Grammy concession - that one line doesn’t stop it any more than the “Love the Way You Lie” chorus did - and entirely fine.Īlfred Soto: It’s true: this arpeggiated track, a throwback, sounds like nothing on the Hot 100. She’s rarely sung this convincingly either: scraping her high register, throwing away lines, reverting to her normal range for the chorus. The tension doesn’t cease, and neither does the organ. Jonathan Bradley: Even when swooning, Rihanna is able to invest her songs with abrasion and restlessness, giving otherwise straightforward ballads odd shadings of character and color. “Love on the Brain” is very traditional in form, its murky doo-wop setting a measured pace, but her careful phrasing locates the song’s edges. Josh Langhoff: Rihanna takes authority of this ’60s soul rip, because unlike Sam Smith, she doesn’t sound like she idolizes ’60s soul. Rather, she cares about what the style can do for her.
It’s her playground of provocation, letting her keep TV censors jumpy and address/not address Chris Brown while messing around in the surprisingly far corners of her range.