In bed with Rihanna

Rihanna is her most sultry yet in the video for her new ballad, California King Bed.

In a marked departure from up-tempo hit Only Girl (in the World) the sixth single from her Loud album is a slow-paced song about lovers growing apart.

The short film, which was directed by Anthony Mandler in Los Angeles, features the scarlet-haired Bajan beauty lying between the sheets with a shirtless lover.

As she laments the distance between the protagonists lying on the California King Bed, Rihanna - dressed in white shorts and bra - is sexy and dishevelled as she rolls around restlessly.

Donning a floaty night dress, the 23-year-old then laments to a heavenly backdrop of clouds and a Californian sunset as the lover drifts away.

The director changes from colour to a black and white lens during the song's third refrain, before switching back to colour for the final shots of Rihanna lying in a field of grass, the same shot that opens the video.

At the end of February, the pop superstar took to Twitter to poll her fans, asking them to choose her next single, she wrote: 'QUESTION EXISTING: I'm shootin a new vid in a cpl wks, I just need u to tell me, which song should I shoot? What is my next single?" she tweeted before firing off, "Its hard to go from s+m to SKIN! Don't want to be 2 swiney.' California King Bed was announced as the next single just a few days later.

And it was a key part of the five song set the songbird performed on the Nivea Blue Boat in Hamburg, Germany last night to mark the brand's 100th anniversary. The singer has been jetting across Europe to promote the big event, which culminated in the rousing gig last night where she blasted through Only Girl (in the World), Disturbia, Don't Stop the Music, Umbrella and the new single.

The Umbrella singer even made a quick stop in London to perform at a luxurious party being held to celebrate the engagement of the daughter of Formula 1 boss Bernie Eccelestone.

His 22-year-old daughter Petra is set to marry businessman Jamie Stunt and Rihanna was brought in to provide the entertainment at the lavish function.

Rihanna has also just signed on to perform at the opening of The Today Show's summer concert series.

Her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown has also signed on to perform but they will be on stage on separate days - Rihanna on May 27 and Brown on July 15.