New Music Friday: Rihanna, Sia, And Charlie Puth
You've had enough work, work, work, work, work, work for one week, time to slip into New Music Friday.
If you listen closely, you can still hear someone at TIDAL apologizing. The streaming service botched their big rollout of Rihanna's ANTI this week by prematurely uploading the singer's eighth studio album, forcing their hand to unveil the album earlier than expected. Today the album is officially out with three bonus tracks.
These are not the bangers you are looking for though. ANTI is a much darker and lonelier affair, but it showcases RiRi in some interesting new light. You can read our track by track review here.
Oddly, ANTI managed to steal the spotlight this week from a batch of songs that Rihanna rejected. Sia's This Is Acting is a compilation of tunes she had written for the Rated R singer – as well as pop powerhouses like Adele and Beyonce. Though tossed aside, Sia saw fit to polish them up and lend them her own impressive pipes. The results are soaring anthems fitting for Queen Bey and the dancefloor-fuel that was absent from ANTI. The acting in play here is Sia sinking into the skin of each artist, so much so that you can hear how tailor-made they actually are.
Elsewhere, today marks the official debut of silky soul singer Charlie Puth. He's the guy the made you cry about the seventh sequel to Fast & Furious, and managed to make Marvin Gaye a verb – both amazing feats. The 24-year-old from Rumson, New Jersey goes full-length today on Nine Track Mind, as 808s collide with classic soul and orchestral flourishes. It's already packed with hits like "One Call Away", the aforementioned "Marvin Gaye", and his duet with Selena Gomez "We Don't Talk Anymore". In between are similar variations, shining a spotlight on his impressive voice. More hits, coming soon.
Also out today is some infectious synth-pop from St. Lucia with their album Matter. Plus "ohmygodohmygodohmygod Chrissy?!?!?!", former One Direction star Zayn is out with his first single "Pillowtalk". Zayn gets sexual and smooth in the song and the NSFW video released today. It's a jam.
