As part of her introduction, she praised its composition and inclusion of The xx's sample of "Intro" and described the song as being "heavy" and "slightly emo." St. Asaph for Popdust had mixed opinions of the song. Meena Rupani of DesiHits was complimentary of the song's club appeal, but did not feel that the song was a standout or memorable track. A reviewer for Sputnikmusic compared the song to one of Rihanna's previous songs from her fifth studio album, Loud, "What's My Name?", writing "'Drunk On Love' is reminiscent of Loud's best song, 'What's My Name,' with Rihanna singing 'I love it, I crave it' with serious conviction and confident, powerful vocals." Jason Lipshutz for Billboard described the song's production as "dynamic" and that Rihanna displays her "full range." He continued to write that it would be a good decision to release "Drunk on Love" as a single. Lansky also noted that Rihanna is "emotionally charged" when she sings the chorus. Sam Lansky for MTV Buzzworthy was complimentary of song, writing that only Rihanna is able to include an xx sample and sing love metaphors and make it sound "fresh." He praised Rihanna's vocal performance, calling it one of her best to date. "Drunk on Love" garnered mixed reviews from music critics. Oliver Sim of The xx received co-writing credits due to the sample of "Intro" on "Drunk on Love". The song follows a progression Am−F−Am−F, and Rihanna's vocals span from A 3 to E 5. Īccording to the sheet music published at, "Drunk on Love" is written in the key of A minor (recorded in G ♯ minor) with a moderate pop tempo of 100 beats per minute. Asaph described the lyric "I love the way you taste on my lips when we kiss" as "PG-13 at best," and wrote that it is not possible to be "lovelorn" as well as filthy at the same time. He also described the lyric "I wear my heart on my sleeve/ Always let love take the lead" as Talk That Talk 's "most thoughtful" line. Robert Copsey for Digital Spy noted that Rihanna describes herself as someone who wants to be loved in the lyric "I just wanna be in love" as she sings about being a "hopeless romantic". Asaph for Popdust described the song's percussion as "huge." The song samples the melody of The xx's song "Intro", which was included on their debut album xx. Instrumentation consists of "a storm of drums" and "clattering synths." Katherine St. The song last for a duration of three minutes and 32 seconds.
"Drunk on Love" has been described as "trancey" and Europop-influenced power ballad.
"Drunk on Love" was mixed by Phil Tan and assisted by Daniella Rivera, while Eriksen and Hermansen provided instrumentation. Alejandro Barajas served as the assistant vocal producer.
Vocal producer Kuk Harrell carried out the vocal production and vocal recording Marcos Tovar was also involved with the vocal recording. It was recorded by Eriksen, Miles Walker and Mike Anderson. Rihanna recorded the song at several recording studios around the world during her Loud Tour (2011), including Roc the Mic Studios, New York City, New York Westlake Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California and The Hide Out Studios, London, United Kingdom. Production of the song was helmed by StarGate. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen of StarGate and Baria Qureshi, Romy Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith of The xx. "Drunk on Love" was written by Ester Dean, Traci Hale, Mikkel S.