Rihanna, Somewhere in the Sky

Sia wrote "Diamonds" in fourteen minutes, allegedly, and it sounds like it—which is a compliment. Rihanna’s delivery is unusually unhurried for a pop single, almost glacial, like she’s narrating something she’s already moved on from. It became the lead single from Unapologetic and spent weeks at the top of every chart, which was both deserved and slightly baffling given how little it resembles anything engineered for radio dominance. The video has a lot of fog and backlit silhouettes. It works.