Eve Davies
PSA: A NEW BEYONCÉ ERA IS UPON US!
It’s been a long six years since her last solo studio album – the cultural sensation Lemonade. During that time, our R&B Soul Queen has conquered Coachella, sung the soundtrack for the classic The Lion King remake, and released a joint album with her husband Jay Z. Now, Beyoncé’s long-awaited seventh album is in sight (finally!).
Beyoncé has been teasing new music for a while, and earlier this year Sony Music’s SEO confirmed that the Destiny’s Child star will drop her seventh album in 2022. The launch is now sitting just around the corner.
The Announcement
“change is coming”
In ultimate pop-star style, the album release announcement was filled with suspense. Beyoncé removed all of her profile pictures across her social media platforms on 9th June, giving us hints that change is coming.
Following this, and in time with Beyoncé posting her beautiful shots from Vogue July 2022, Columbia Records posted a black square that simply stated: “act i: RENAISSANCE” with a caption reading “Beyoncé. Renaissance. July 29.” This subtle statement confirmed that Beyoncé fans should be excited.
New Single
We have been graced with an early glimpse of Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance – which will be released under a Parkwood Columbia label – after she surprised fans by dropping her new single ‘Break My Soul’ at midnight on 21st June.
The sixteen-song project is said to include ‘act i’, leaving fans eager for the release of a second act sometime soon. Official sources have confirmed that ‘act i’ will include eight features and a track featuring Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy. Thinking back to the power of emotion in her previous album, this is sure to tug at the heartstrings.
“the term dancefloor liberation’ comes to mind”
The term ‘dance-floor liberation’ comes to mind’ when dissecting ‘Break My Soul’ which has been played constantly on the radio over the past few days. It is an uplifting dance anthem about celebration, survival, and resilience. The single samples Robin S’ 1993 floor filler ‘Show Me Love’, and appears to have bypassed streaming platforms including Spotify in favour of a Tidal release.
The track (listen here) features Big Freedia who wrote on Twitter about how excited and “honoured” she is to be a part of the project.
It feels surreal to be on the track with the Queen Beyonce once again I’m so honored to be apart of this special moment I’m forever grateful lord 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾❤️❤️❤️❤️🔥🔥🔥🔥someone please catch me 🤩 #beyonce #bigfreedia #BreakMySoul pic.twitter.com/AL8jn5lX6J
— Big Freedia 💋 (@bigfreedia) June 21, 2022
High Expectations
Given the delays over the pandemic, Beyoncé was able to take more time to perfect her new album. Showcasing her versatile talent, Queen B reportedly strays from her iconic R&B genre throughout Renaissance to explore the likes of county music on some tracks. With a whopping 22 number-one songs on the U.S. Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart behind her, there is no surprise that fans hold high expectations for her new release.
“Beyoncé has garnered over 5 million views on YouTube from just one track on the album alone”
It seems that the 40-year-old hitmaker is yet to lose her spark, judging by the first taste of her new music. Beyoncé has garnered over 5 million views on YouTube from just one track on the album alone. So, be prepared to spend yet another summer on the dance floor with Beyoncé blaring in your ears.
Featured image courtesy of Emily Bauman on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
evedaviess
Eve is 22 years old and lives in Swansea. She has recently graduated from Cardiff University with a BA in English Literature. Eve's main interest is in lifestyle writing, particularly health, food, and travel.