This is Rihanna at her most strikingly self-assured and it’s wondrous.
Save for the chunky “Don’t You Wait”, there’s little punch or pop charm to the album, which boasts a surfeit of luscious textures and feisty attitudes, but a shortfall of killer melodies.
With Konnichiwa, Skepta hoists grime to another level.
Less structured and song-oriented than Channel Orange, it’s a long, meandering ramble through Ocean’s passing interests and attitudes, hopes and memories ... delivered in an undulating sprechstimme that seems to be avoiding the difficult choice of a compelling melody.
You Want It Darker finds Cohen as frustrated and regretful as any 82-year-old has a right to be, railing variously against the world, his own weakness and god.
Lemonade is fiery, insurgent, fiercely proud, sprawling and sharply focused in its dissatisfaction.