You Can’t Get Higher than Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE (Album Review)
This is How You Revive House Music
Queen Bey is back!
From her already classic discography, to an album that literally changed how the industry releases music with Beyoncé, to releasing her undisputed audiovisual magnum opus with Lemonade, she’s basically set.
The superstar can retire anytime, and not add anything else to her already flawless catalogue. Right?
But, the pandemic found her making and recording more music, writing songs that she said herself, is at her most creative.
The first of a three-act project allowed her to feel free and adventurous amid an uncertain time in the world, and it showed.
The Act I, RENAISSANCE, proves that she’s far from retired, and people are definitely far from tired.
Via Instragram, Beyoncé had this to say about the new album:
Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world.
It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving. 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. It was a beautiful journey of exploration.
I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are.
In June 17th, she released her first single for years, Break My Soul, in the same week, Drake dropped his surprise album Honestly Nevermind.
Both have noticeable Dance House influences and many have since proclaimed its comeback because of it.
But it’s very much apparent, that Beyoncé easily takes the cake even with just a lone song, because in a lot of ways.
RENAISSANCE is not just hopping to another trend, it’s dedicated, and in some ways, sincere, and you’ll see the reasons why in a bit.
As a result, Renaissance is unapologetically escapist: liberating and boundary-pushing.
An all-out hour-long high note that, for a place free of perfectionism, is pretty near-perfect, and this is coming from an otherwise pop music outsider.
If one doesn’t put much effort to it, anything Dancy and Club-ready production-wise can come across as mindless and, ironically at worst, lethargic.
This is why the Party Anthems of the late 2000s and early-2010s sound so distant and dated compared to today; because many were overindulgent, and only there for the moment.
But in here, the electronic production somehow crosses perfectly between energetic, empowering, and meticulous and studded, even a bit thoughtful.
Not to mention how this record is dedicated to her children, her husband, and her late Uncle Jonny, who was gay and battled HIV.
That definitely has something to do with the soaring production that’s not afraid to switch things up, but most especially, Beyoncé’s excellent presence all over this record.
The transitions between songs are flawless, the production is flawless, and Beyoncé herself, from her energy to the finer details, is flawless.
She’s very stellar in here, what more can I say?
The opener I’m That Girl starts it slow and savory with its buzzing bass and the ubiquitous Tresillo rhythm, before amping the tempo up with the song’s second half.
We get seamlessly thrust to its groovy world with Cozy, combining the traditional groove of its bassline with bombastic Caribbean-influenced rhythms that eventually flow into the next track.
Cozy is also an anthem about being comfortable in your own skin, whether you’re a person of color, or part of the LGBTQ+ community, which the colors of the pride flag is alluded in Verse 2.
Black like love too deep
Dance to the soles of my feet
Green eyes envy me
Paint the world pussy pink
Blue like the soul I crowned
Purple drank and couture gowns
Gold fangs a shade God made
Blue, black, white, and brown
Paint the town red like cinnamon
Yellow diamonds, limoncello glisterin’
Rainbow gelato in the streets
Alien Superstar is a pure assertion of dominance from both Beyoncé herself, of course, and empowers the listener that wields it in the process, no matter how absurd it sounds.
Also, the interpolation of Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy is too hard to not talk about.
Cuff It gives off a completely different vibe with its funky exterior courtesy of Nile Rodgers. The instrumental oddly reminds me of Tom Tom Club’s Genius of Love.
Energy somewhat continues the vibe of Cuff It but it really served as a vehicle as the smoothest transition I’ve heard so far into Break My Soul, which totally wowed me.
I mean we can see the horizon of what we’re getting into from here with her lead single: Break My Soul.
As you may or may not know, Break My Soul inspired thousands to resign from their jobs in protest, and that speaks for itself in its staying power.
Church Girl is a twerk anthem of really letting it loose, Plastic Off the Sofa comes as this tender ballad to one’s partner about being who you are, and I just found this to be so funny.
I think you’re so cool
(Even though I’m cooler than you)
Virgo’s Groove is both very nonchalant and breezy with its instrumentation which fits being the most sex-influenced track on here.
All throughout the record, Beyoncé’s vocals feel much more cozy and accompanying, but this track is where it first feels like she’s playing with her range, so as to express her emotion, which felt quite overwhelming.
Move is a more jagged dance anthem. Heated is a somewhat slowed-down track, but even then its very upbeat and energetic in its own right.
Thique is a minimal 808 and bass-heavy deep cut that both describes her body and her wealth, All Up In Your Mind continues that bass-heavy vibe in a more dominant tone, and I don’t like them both.
For me atleast, Heated onward sounds more ordinary in contrast to the the first half at large, but can sound superb outside the album.
America Has A Problem stumps me, its more 90s-influenced direction and her repetitive nature on this one is noteworthy and pretty catchy on its own.
Obviously, reading the title alludes to a more socially-conscious narrative, which I was totally down for as those weren’t really put in a corner in RENAISSANCE.
Instead, it feels minimized to be about likening a woman to cocaine, which is close enough.
But then again this track samples Kilo Ali’s America Has a Problem, which explains the title, but it’s not like it changes my perception of the album, especially with its escapist tone.
The penultimate tracks leave a sweeter taste in one’s mouth rather than a bedazzling disappointment, really.
Pure/Honey starts off as a continuation of the bass-heavy badassery of Thique and All Up In Your Mind.
But overtime it drops itself into a completely different vibe; funkier and soulful production, which sounds more haphazard than some transitions in this record but proves there’s still a few tricks under this album’s metaphorical sleeve.
And finally, the closer Summer Renaissance doesn’t go to a bolder encore direction, instead it recalls the Dancy Club-ready production from the previous tracks farther from the front, reminding one of the record’s unique power.
Now the question remains as I was writing this,
Did she top off her previous efforts?
Personally, any answer would feel ridiculous, though many would say “No!” I doubt any of them meant “this is bad.”
