ANNIHILATE

### Producer

Rihanna (exec.) • Salvador Navarrete • Alejandra Ghersi • Archy Marshall • Troye Sivan • Mucky • Sevda Alizadeh • Yves Tumor • Brian Kennedy • Dean Cover • Björk Guðmundsdóttir • Justin Raisen

## Singles from ANNIHILATE

1. "There Goes a Tenner"
Released: October 31, 2021

**ANNIHILATE** is the twelfth studio album by Barbadian singer-songwriter Rihanna. It was announced on October 31st, 2021 and released the following day, through Republic Records and Roc Nation. This album serves as the final installment in Rihanna's *APOCALYPSE* series including her previous albums *ASCENSION* (2021) and *INDUCIA* (2021). All three albums coincide with the releases of the three seasons in Rihanna's hit Netflix series *ASCENSION*. The album features 16 tracks containing and evolving on the lyrical and instrumental themes of her two previous albums. The album was preceded by the release of the single "There Goes a Tenner" with Troye Sivan, which was released on on the same day of the album's announcement. Rihanna conceived *ANNIHILATE* with previous producers from *ASCENSION* and *INDUCIA*, as well as new producers such as Sega Bodega, Troye Sivan, Björk, and Inflo.

## Background

In February and June of 2021, Rihanna released her tenth and eleventh albums *ASCENSION* and *INDUCIA*, both conceived in quarantine during the pandemic while filming the first two seasons of the *ASCENSION* series. The work routine was quite vigorous as Rihanna would often leave after filming to work in the studio and vice-versa. The *ASCENSION* Netflix series was always set to be a limited series, but Rihanna was brought with a conflict following the release of the second season. With two seasons released in just under six months, Rihanna was brought a contract by Netflix to sign for 4 more seasons of *ASCENSION*, released yearly until 2025. Declining however, Rihanna instead sought to release the final season less than a year than the first and conclude the series instead of dragging it along. Working heavily throughout the early part of 2021, Rihanna and her team managed to film the final season of *ASCENSION* while writing and producing *ANNIHILATE*.

## Music and lyrics

Inspired for the final season of Rihanna’s record breaking Netflix series, the album reflects on Rihanna’s mindset during filming and production. While following her previous two albums with lyrical themes of existentialism and lost love, *ANNIHILATION* focuses heavily on themes of self-reflection as well as the struggle between self-destruction and self-empowerment. Regarded as the most instrumentally uplifting album in the series, the album goes heavier on lyrical themes of acceptance with anxiety and mental health as Rihanna closes this arc in her career. *ANNIHILATE* invest further in the erratic genre shifts between songs than its predecessor did.

### Songs

The opening track, "Nonbeliever", starts the album off with a dark electronic song with melodic whistles and a cold vocal delivery. Rihanna lambast her ex-lover for believing their relationship wasn’t doomed to fail from the start. The second track is a cover of the 1997 Elliott Smith folk song by the same name. A sharp contract from the previous song, "Alameda" focuses on self-isolation due to anxiety and struggling to let others close. “Alameda” is a reference to Alameda Street in Portland, a prime location in the third season of Rihanna’s Netflix series. "Alekhine's Gun" is sonically a complete 180 from the previous song, lyrically it is very similar. In a first listen it would seem like Rihanna is boasting of her class and status, she is actually boasting about how she views isolation as a defense. The title of the song is a reference to the chess move, in which the queen is guarded by two rooks.

The lead single, "There Goes a Tenner" is a duet with Troye Sivan. A circus like song, reviewed by critics as “everything Showtime should’ve been”, is a cover of the 1982 single by Kate Bush. A complete shift from any song Rihanna has done before, this lead single describes a rushed bank robbery. However, this is a twist on the original song as it features an aggressive, confident robber, portrayed by Rihanna, and a paranoid, fearful robber portrayed by Troye, almost acting against each other throughout the song as the robbery goes awry. "Petal Blizzard" starts off as a slow ballad about being surrounded by petals and being at peace with nature. However, after the first chorus the song switches into electric dance song with heavy synths. "Butterfly Effect" is a rather odd song, with musical implications from Yves Tumor and Sega Bodega. Instrumentally this song follows the electronic/experimental style of some of the previous songs. However, Rihanna’s vocals are distant and far between. Lyrically the song is about endless possibilities and attempting to rationalize anxieties, going through endless made-up scenarios.

"There Will Come (Soft Rains)" is an eerily calm ballad inspired by the short story by Ray Bradbury. Rihanna sings of an ambiguous, incoming doom. With slight soul elements throughout the song, the instrumental switches into an erratic electronic climax in the final chorus. In the midpoint of the album, "All the Saints and Sinner" starts off rather slow before building up into a massive orchestra by the end of the song. Lyrically the song acts like a battle cry and a call to battle for all, saint or sinner. With slight Björk influences, "Hurts Me to Hurt You" follows in line with the best ballads, albeit with heavy electronic influences, in Rihanna’s career. An overall emotional song about the pain of not being the best spouse for someone. Based on the mythological Greek monster, "Chimera", a Persian-inspired electronic song throws fire into the list of ballads that preceded it. Drawing inspiration from chimera genetics, lyrically rihanna sings of the struggle of mixing 100% with a lover.

A cooldown from the previous song, "Arctic Willow" features calm psychedelic production. This song is about the potential bloom in a relationship gone cold, as the titular flower thrives in harsh conditions. Another theatrical song on this theatrical album, "Get Out Alive" is lyrically about entering the final part of a relationship when it all seems like pure hell. With a heavy rock-electric instrumental, the only hope is getting out alive at most. The title track, an alternative rock song is rather aggressive and upfront. Rihanna still playfully boast about how she could easily annihilate anything in her path, even herself. This song plays with themes of annihilation but at the cost of self-destruction.

"Right of Frost" is a cold song with Björk production, this song finds Rihanna singing lowly over a cold electronic instrumental. The title and meaning of the song comes from the Emily Dickinson poem “I Cannot Live With You” in which Rihanna extends the meaning of the poem into her album. Rihanna sings that she is unable to love because her fear of losing love is too much. The next song is "I See the Dawn..." which contains heavy samples from the Björk interlude “Frosti”, the instrumental is basically a repeat of the cold, frost-like music box playing over and over. Rihanna sings in an anxious fashion that she sees the light and that her dark journey may be ending. However, her anxious tone might say otherwise. The final song on this album, "This Is Where Upon the Stars End" is Rihanna’s most dramatic song to date. Built with a dramatic, over-the-top orchestra with an outstanding drum-line. The instrumental switches between the orchestra and a simple beat that clash in this inner war Rihanna sings about.

## Release and Promotion

*ANNIHILATE* was announced and made available for pre-order on October 31, 2021. It was released the following day on all digital platforms. Rihanna as well promoted a digitally autographed version of the album on her website for a limited time.

### Singles

"There Goes a Tenner" serves as the lead single of *ANNIHILATE*. It was released the day of the album's announcement, alongside the promotional single "Alameda". It was accompanied by a music video posted to YouTube directed by Rihanna herself. It was serviced to radio formats on the same day.

*There Goes a Tenner**Alameda*
## Title and Artwork

The album art, packaging and promotional materials for *ANNIHILATE* were created to be a merge of *ASCENSION* and *INDUCIA*–where *ASCENSION* was dark, moody, and grimy, *INDUCIA* was colorful, sharp, and hallucinogenic. *ANNIHILATION* uses the visuals of flowers and paper to create a moody yet colorful image. The cover artwork sees Rihanna sitting with a flowing white dress on, colorful flowers swarming from behind the chair. The main photo seems overlaid a paper background, with parts of Rihanna and the flowers sticking out of the image. The artwork for "There Goes a Tenner" continues the paper theme as it is a wanted poster with both Rihanna and Troye Sivan sketched onto the cover.

## Critical Reception

Upon release, *ANNIHILATION* received acclaim from music critics. Rihanna herself rated the album a 10 out of 10, based on one "rihview." Fans pointed the song "Hurts Me to Hurt You" out as a highlight. Grindr Publications stated that this was "Rihanna's best album since July 2021."

## Commercial Performance

*ANNIHILATE* will debut on top of the Billboard Top Albums Chart, on the issue dated November 7, 2021.