With “Cheers (Drink To That)” still at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and continuing to garner airplay (even as the Avril Lavigne sample grates more and more with every additional spin), Rihanna rewrites the pop-star rule book by releasing a new single that’s nowhere to be found on Loud.

“We Found Love,” produced by Scottish DJ/producer Calvin Harris (who snares a co-credit), won’t appear on an expanded edition of the 1.5 million selling Loud, as one might have assumed. You’ll recall that in 2008, Rihanna appended a trio of new tunes to Good Girl Gone Bad, re-releasing the album with the subtitle Reloaded. Not this time. Opting to forgo the easy pun Relouded, Rihanna will instead deliver an entirely new studio set on November 21, in time for the holiday gift-giving season.

“We Found Love” is an unapologetic hands-in-the-air dance track which finds Rihanna repeating the fantastic hook, “We found love in a hopeless place,” several times over. I can’t recall the last time we’ve heard Rihanna use her upper-register so much or sound so angelic on record. Like dark clouds finally parting to allow some light to break through, salve Rihanna! The Barbadian pop princess’ reign just won’t let up.

So no one should be surprised when “We Found Love” skips past “Cheers (Drink To That)” in the next week or two, or when the single tops the Hot 100, giving Calvin Harris his first U.S. #1. Hear here:

Purchase Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love” via iTunes.