Album review: Renaissance - Beyoncé

If you like to dance until you break a sweat, this is the album for you.

Sophie McNally
18th October 2022
Credit: Pixabay
Beyoncé's disco ball-laced lyrics sizzle off the tongue, ringing in true just how much the 41-year-old singer is "a god, [and] a hero" like her second dynamic track 'COZY' claims.
Beyoncé - I’M THAT GIRL (Official Teaser)

'Renaissance' rightfully burst into flames from the very start.

The hip-swaying, shoulder-jerking, single 'BREAK MY SOUL' came hot out of the recording studio in conjunction with the 2022 Summer Solstice on June 21, before the entire album dropped on July 29 and immediately broke records as the most-streamed album by a female artist in 2022.

The entire album is neatly wrapped in a level of intentionality and purpose that the Beehive have grown accustomed to.

"My intention was to create a safe place. A place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream. Release. Feel Freedom." Beyoncé said in a public statement.

Notably, the 2016 drop of Lemonade gave fans an eye-opening deep dive into the murky and uncharted waters of the artist's personal marital struggles and the divisive political climates that fuelled a global struggle against an onslaught of heinous racist and prejudiced acts.

But the 2022 release of Renaissance is arguably just as pointed underneath the thick gloss of disco beats and scintillating melodies. Beyoncé uses all 16 tracks to inject a vibrancy and empowerment to all marginalised groups, races, sexualities, cultures, faiths and genders.

Beyoncé uses all 16 tracks to inject a vibrancy and empowerment to all marginalised groups

This is clear from the singer's embrace and celebration of a variety of underrepresented regional musical expression, such as the dancehall reggae that we see in 'ENERGY' with Jamaican-American rapper BEAM, to the seamlessly inserted public voices throughout her songs affirming the unquestioning beauty and glory of underrepresented communities ("I'm dark brown, dark skin, light skin, beige / Fluorescent beige, bitch, I'm black").

Despite recent years being bombarded with discotheque-inspired albums (like Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia and Thundercat's It Is What It Is), Renaissance lacks only in being a latecomer to the trend, but never in originality.

Tiffany & Co. - Tiffany & Co. and Beyoncé present LOSE YOURSELF IN LOVE with SUMMER RENAISSANCE

The album title itself exquisitely sums up what Beyoncé's tracks aim to achieve: a rebirth.

Time and time again the singer has proved her part-human part-chameleon demeanour as she had contorted into fit the style of the day ever since her initial 2006 B-Day release. It just so happens that this time her twists and turns take place on a glitter soaked floor.

Songs 'CUFF IT', 'SUMMER RENAISSANCE', and 'VIRGO'S GROOVE' can only be described as near-psychedelic beats diluted with heavy tinges of groovy bass lines, and dainty strings, cascading in honey drizzles out of bumping club speakers.

While tracks 'MOVE' and 'PURE/HONEY' slice through the air with harsher tones and unadorned beats that drill an atmospheric desire to get up and dance into the very ceilings of whatever building you're in, and a never-felt-before self-confidence to go dance with that girl you like or walk into a club like you already own it.

The 28-time grammy winner also never misses a shot at sensuality either, as Renaissance boasts yet another dimension with her buttery-smooth lyrics epitomised in songs like 'PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA'.

But certain songs still feel skippable and don't make their way into the running, pre-drinks, or feel good playlists. With tracks like 'ALL UP IN YOUR MIND' taking the electronically-charged samplings and experimentation of blended styles slightly too far.

All in all, it's another chart topper for the RnB-turned-Soul idol, 4/5.

If you like to dance until you break a sweat, this is the album for you.

AUTHOR: Sophie McNally
Deputy Editor, History undergraduate, UB's The Spectrum alum and former KultureHub staff writer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ReLated Articles
magnifiercross
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap