One thing is clear, whether or not we adhere to this new proposal, Beyoncé offers a project where each song exudes pleasure. The one that the singer undeniably had to make this album. The one she tries to share with those who will listen to her.
Posted at 2:11 p.m.
Renaissance is made for dancing (for sail even sometimes), to sing, to free oneself. Beyoncé, she seems to have completely let go to create this record. One senses a sloppiness in his most recent offering that even his greatest works lack.
“Creating this album allowed me to dream and find an escape in a frightening time for the world. It made me feel free and adventurous at a time when nothing else was happening. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgement. […] I hope you find joy in this music. I hope this will inspire you to let go. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong and sexy as you are, ”she said in a message on social networks to present the disc.
Renaissance is “a place to be free from perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, to break free, to feel freedom”. The album was made in the middle of the pandemic and it shows in the intention of building a space where we can evacuate everything, decompress, relive.
The insight given to us by simple house Break My Soul (released in June) was not entirely misleading, but also not completely representative of the essence of the album. A simple reason: Renaissance does not stick to any particular style. Queen Bey manages to do everything – house, hip-hop, R&B, dance-pop, disco. The album is consumed one song at a time, just as it is listened to in full without lacking coherence. A common atmosphere (that of the dance floors) remains and unites everything.
The homage to house, to dance-pop, is made with the intention of marking current music. Renaissance offers an innovative sound while appealing to the tempos of the past. The alliance is fruitful and makes it possible to put forward this movement which has long evolved on the sidelines of popular culture. Beyoncé knew how to surround herself well (as usual) to bring a multitude of sounds worked to perfection. Nova Wav (Rihanna, Ariana Grande), The-Dream (Britney Spears, Rihanna), Skrillex, Hit-Boy (Kanye West, Drake, Jay-Z) and many other big names in production feature in the list of collaborators from this 16-track album.
The sampling work allows nostalgia to creep in everywhere, whether we find the I Feel Love by Donna Summer on Summer Renaissance (the title only evokes the homage to the queen of disco) or the I’m Too Sexy of Right Said Fred in the brilliant Alien Superstar (one of our favorites on the record).
The title Renaissance can also echo the Black Renaissance (or Harlem Renaissance, marked by the effervescence of Afro-American culture and which has had a new upheaval in recent years). The term was probably not chosen without full awareness of this resonance. Beyoncé is reborn with this seventh album, six years after the masterpiece Lemonade, more than two of which passed into a pandemic. She also echoes the work of all the black artists who preceded her, bringing their work back to life through hers. “Thank you to all the pioneers who are at the origin of the culture, to all the fallen angels whose contributions have remained unrecognized for too long”, mentions the singer in the thanks of Renaissance.
Beyoncé does not stop in the claim (feminist, for civil rights) which has marked her creations for several years, instilling again and again in her pieces political messages, discreet or not. If the air is lighter in the rhythms of Renaissance, the words themselves are sometimes contentious. She contrasts these more political positions with other texts that are purely lustful, colorful, sexy.
Renaissance is presented as “Act 1”. Beyoncé has confirmed that this first act is the initial part of a trilogy. The 40-year-old artist’s level of creativity seems boundless. So much so that we can already expect it to push more and more limits, to bring us back to where we don’t expect it and to surprise us with the quality of what it has to offer. .
dance, hip hop
Renaissance
Beyonce
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