After singing about playing water-sports with diamonds on her smash hit single "We found love", Forehead Fenty has washed them off and is holding them up to the sun with..."Diamonds". A sequel of sorts. If "We found love" was the uncertainty of loving someone you'd met inebriated at a Saturday night rave, then "Diamonds" is the reassurance of love being the answer and the everything on a Sunday afternoon in each other arms.
Written by Sia Furler, the lyrics of the song are poignant. But they're left dead and wading in low waters by production which feels lacking and a vocal phone in from Rihanna which feels lifeless and dis-concerned. Had Sia sung this herself or given it to Christina Aguilera (who did wonders with the Sia penned ballad "You lost me"), Adele (who this song reminds me of), or Jessie Ware (whose warm vocals would marry with the sound) "Diamonds" could have been something decent. But with neither Rihanna, Stargate nor Benny Blanco willing to push the song further, "Diamonds" feels flat.
Rihanna's complete departure from anything she's done before is admirable. But at its core, "Diamonds" just isn't strong enough. The song never soars as the lyrics and tone of the song lead you to believe it will. There is no grandiose build to a plateau of powerful vocals and visceral soundscapes, and this is what kills the song for me. It's just 4 minutes of monotonous droning. And whilst Rihanna sounds vocally strong throughout, she sounds the same at the start of the song as when she ends it. She never gives anything more. She gives about as much emotion, heart and feeling as a dead XBox 360.
Given Rihanna's penchant for blowing charts to smithereens with her lead singles, I applaud her and her A&R team for giving us something wholly different each time; as it would have been easy to have retread the sound of a previous single for success. But "Diamonds" is weak and sounds as though she's emulating somebody else. Begging the question, despite Rihanna having so many hit singles, does she really have a sound to call her own?
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