Rihanna says she has “a lot of visual ideas” for new album and “the songs she needs to make”

nme.com:

Rihanna has shared an update on her long-awaited new album, revealing that she has “a lot of visual ideas” for the material.The singer spoke about the anticipated album in a newly shared discussion with Interview Magazine, which took place at the rehearsals for her first show in eight years.On the night, Rihanna took to the stage at a pre-wedding ceremony in India to play her first full live show since 2016 – and was reportedly paid $6million (£4.7million) for the private concert.During the discussion before the set, she was asked about what it was like to be back in a rehearsal space, and if she had “the vibe to do music again”.“I have a lot of visual ideas.

It’s weird. My brain is working backward right now,” she explained. “I usually have the music first, and the music leads me into all of these visual opportunities, and now I’m having all of these visuals, and I don’t have the songs for them yet, but maybe that’s the key, this time.

Maybe the visual ideas are leading me to the songs that I need to make.”When asked if she saw the project as somewhat of a “rebirth”, Rihanna responded: “Random ideas, quirky ideas, things that have nothing to do with me at all.

I mean, I can’t tell you. The opps is watching.”Rihanna’s last full-length album came in the form of ‘Anti’ – her eighth studio record, which arrived at the beginning of 2016.Speculation about a follow-up first got momentum in 2018, when she first began hinting at new material and promised fans in an Instagram comment that it would arrive in 2019.