The world has been waiting nearly a decade for Rihanna to drop a new project to follow up her 2016 album ANTI. The singer, however, has been content to do everything else but work on music — including being a full-time mother and running her billion-dollar Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty empires. But the artist has dabbled in the studio from time to time, mostly for soundtrack work like her two contributions to the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, “Lift Me Up” and “Born Again.” The superstar is back with another soundtrack contribution and another job with her newest single “Friend Of Mine” from the animated film Smurfs where she stars as Smurfette.
With Smurfs being a movie for kids, you’d think the soundtrack’s lead single would be something happy-go-lucky. And you’d be right, though “Friend Of Mine” feels like that concept through the filter of a rave (and maybe a few pharmaceuticals). The cut is heavy on the drum machine and synth, with a house-shaking rhythm set to make everyone move as a sampled vocal chant is repeated and chopped up throughout the song.
What the song is light on, however, is lyrics. Rihanna repeats “you feel like a friend of mine” all over the song while occasionally adding in other lyrical phrases to pique our interest. (“Ooh, I think the word here is ‘déjà-vu’” and “How can familiar be so brand new?” can also be heard.) But the song is really more about making us dance. That’s also evident in its accompanying music video, which features Rih only at the beginning and end while bringing all the attention to the Smurfs getting down for the majority of the clip.
At this point, we’ll take whatever Rihanna wants to give us. It also works that this is kind of a bop. Get ready to head to the club for a Smurfin' good time when you listen to “Friend Of Mine” and watch its music and lyric videos below. While you’re here, check out the official trailer for Smurfs, which also stars John Goodman, James Corden and Octavia Spencer and hits movie theaters on Friday, July 18th.
