Rihanna drops first new single on upcoming album

(AFP PHOTO / Robyn BECK)

On September 7, Rihanna debuted a track from her upcoming new album on Ryan Seacrest's celebrity radio show (available on the show's website). The international pop star also unveiled, for the first time, the name of her new LP: Loud.

The new track, "The Only Girl (In the World)," will also be accessible on her website on September 8. The song was produced by Stargate, the Grammy Award-winning Norwegian team who produced Rihanna's iconic hits "Please Don't Stop the Music" and "Hate That I Love You."

Loud is her fifth studio effort and is expected to be released sometime in November. The album follows the enormous success of her 2009 Rated R, which sold almost 3 million copies worldwide, and her 2008 Good Girl Gone Bad, which went multiplatinum in several countries and is her best-selling album to date.

In a chat on one of her fan sites, Rihanna Daily, the songtress states that she "didn't want to go backward and remake Good Girl Gone Bad." She adds, "I wanted the next step in the evolution of Rihanna." She also hinted at some "surprise" collaborations on the new album but didn't reveal any names during the chat.

Wrapping up her 2010 tour, Rihanna is also releasing a hefty coffee table book, Rihanna: The Last Girl on Earth, in collaboration with artistic director Simon Henwood on October 12 (October 20 in the UK). The tome is expected to feature a 144-page spread of photographs of the star. She is also currently working on Peter Berg's film, Battleship, scheduled for release in 2012.

Rihanna fans can listen to the full track at www.ryanseacrest.com, or visit Rihanna's official site at www.rihannanow.com