Rihanna unveils new album artwork

Rihanna has unveiled the artwork for her new album, calling it her favourite yet.

The Barbadian singer hasn't released a new record since 2012's Unapologetic, but on Wednesday night (07Oct15) the 27-year-old unveiled the title and cover of her eighth release, Anti.

"This is my favourite album cover I've ever done," she said according to Billboard as she stood in front of the art work on display at the Mama Gallery in Los Angeles.

The image consists of Rihanna as a child holding a black balloon while wearing a gold crown over her eyes. The background is split into red and white and over the top is a poem by Chloë Mitchell written in Braille. The cover was designed by Roy Nachum who is an Israeli artist living in New York and his intention was to make a statement on vision and vision impairment.

"Sometimes the ones who have sight are the blindest," Rihanna added after the unveiling.

No release date was given for the album and no new tracks were played at the private viewing. However three songs expected to be on Anti have already been released by the star. Her collaboration with Kanye West and Paul McCartney, FourFiveSeconds, is believed to be one of them, as is B**ch Better Have My Money and American Oxygen.

Rihanna admitted earlier this year (15) that she wanted to make songs that were "timeless" for her new record.

"I wanted songs that I could perform in 15 years, I wanted an album I could perform in 15 years," she told MTV, admitting she was getting tired of performing her roster of number one hits when on tour.

"I find that when I get on stage now, I don't want to perform a lot of my songs. They don't feel like me. So I want to make songs that are timeless."