Remember summer songs? They’re still around, but with radio stations ever more narrowly programmed and pop music audiences similarly scattered, some people never hear the ones that dominate the hearts and minds of millions of (mostly young) listeners.

In 2007, the clear winner was Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” The Barbados native was first heard a couple of years ago with “Pon De Replay.” A jump-rope-ready dance record spiked with Caribbeanisms and sung by a cute 17-year-old, “Replay” could easily have spelled one-hit novelty for the new star. But smart direction (with, apparently, some input from Rihanna) led to more and diverse singles such as the ballad “Unfaithful” and the Soft Cell-biting “S.O.S. (Rescue Me).” With her slightly exotic girl-next-door appeal, Rihanna was also gaining attention as a fashion plate.

While readying her third album, “Good Girl Gone Bad,” Rihanna herself went after “Umbrella,” written largely by Terius “The Dream” Nash and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart. Though originally promised to Mary J. Blige, Rihanna insisted that the tune go to her. Now 19 and with a rapidly maturing artistic profile, Rihanna chose well.

The song opens “Good Girl” with an extremely catchy bang and a message of solidarity that anyone — maybe especially quick-to-emotion kids — could grasp. And, oh yeah: There’s that repeating chorus of “umbrella ella ella.” It quickly seemed impossible to dislodge the record from the No. 1 position on both American and English charts. Like Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” the summer before, “Umbrella” was the song everyone referenced. Even Bruce Springsteen paid it a backhanded compliment in a Spin interview (“I can enjoy [it] immensely,” he said, but still preferred the old-school vibe of a rock band).

“Umbrella” could well have overshadowed the rest of its home album, but early listens reveal a stack of tracks that can easily follow it as hit singles. Harder beats and pushier tempos are often on display, and smart turns on the new-wave pop Rihanna had already borrowed for “S.O.S.” provide some of the disc’s rockiest moments.

“Rock” as in music, and also maybe something to throw. “I’ma fight a man tonight,” she vows on “Breakin’ Dishes,” which ups the ante on Beyoncé’s plenty-mad “Ring the Alarm” and “Irreplaceable.” This guy isn’t getting off that easily, not when Rihanna has access to lighter fluid and his wardrobe. Perfectly sung, “Dishes” also unveils Rihanna’s talents as a mimic as she drops for a syllable or two into Amy Winehouse territory.

From the club-ready “Don’t Stop the Music,” which nicely reminds the listener how cool Michael Jackson’s old records still are (it strategically samples bits of “Wanna Be Startin’ Something”), to the title track, with its almost country-esque lesson that “once a good girl goes bad, we gone forever,” this is, in the words of one reviewer, “as pop as pop gets in 2007.” In this case, that means little fooling around with image-mongering — less new-Britney and more early-Madonna. Every song carries meaning and pleasure, along with the excitement of watching Rihanna coming into her own. And, of course, the promise that next year will bring more.

RICKEY WRIGHT is a longtime writer on music and culture. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, USA Today, The Miami Herald and Seattle Weekly, among many others. He is at work on a book about John Lennon. He lives in Seattle.

source: http://cadillacof.msn.com/entertainment/article.aspx?category=music&arti...