NEW RELEASE: Renaissance - Beyonce

 If you think I was possibly gonna SLEEP on one of the most anticipated drops you are mistaken. Like her or not, when the Queen Bee drops you show up. 

One thing I will always give Beyonce credit for is the fact she makes everything an event. Her larger than life persona is shared by few artists in the modern era. I, however, am not usually a fan of her music. Break My Soul had a more enticing beat but the lyrics did not draw me in enough. It felt like it was on the edge of something bigger. This album, I am hoping, is bigger.

The album begins with "I'M THAT GIRL" which is the only time I will type these titles in all caps, but know the entire album tracklist is in caps. Gotta chase that weird capitalizing trend. The way they mixed the weird snip in the background is driving me absolutely insane. I want to break this track...

This mess slips into "Cozy", that is a bit less grating than the starting track. The song however feels like nothing particularly special. It almost reminds me of something...Lizzo would have put on her debut album? 

We now have a song literally titled..."Alien Superstar". Very cool Beyonce. Flex hardcore. She almost is flexing as hard as Tyler the Creator with less interesting beats. I absolutely love the hook though. It absolutely doesn't match the verses though? What the heck?

IS THIS REALLY DISCO? IS CUFF IT REALLY THIS DISCO? It isn't terrible, I just don't exactly love this type of music.

Part of me likes "Energy" for the unique vibe of it. The other part of me feels like it is similar to Break My Soul and I want something more from it.

And this leads INTO Break My Soul, which so far is still the best of it that I have really listened to...that does not spell well for this in the long run.

Beyonce has a weird way of making some of the strange lyrics sound well sung. I will never say Beyonce cannot sing. However, I could live the rest of my life without ever hearing Church Girl again...

"Plastic Off the Sofa" rather bores me. It isn't bad but nothing special either. Could have been on Calvin Harris Funk Wav Bounce.

Okay, the first song to really drag me into it. "Virgo's Groove". Title makes no sense. All the mixes though work well with her voice and the general direction of the album while not having lyrics that just confuse the cycle.

"Move" is definitely influenced by culture and it makes me a bit softer because she not only did it quite well, but definitely mixed it with something accessible. Nevertheless, it is not quite my thing.

"Heated" isn't too bad. It is another Break My Soul type where I want something to just elevate to that next level.

"Thique" is basically Beyonce leaning into the rap side and I am just not interested in how she did this one.

"All Up in Your Mind" has a beat that draws me in but I feel like she is cramming too many words into a good beat. 

When I heard the song start as "America has a Problem", I was expecting some political addition. Instead this puns on some confidence of "I'm America's problem." That's actually a cute twist although I'm sure some people will actually roast her for it.

"Pure/Honey" returns to a similar vibe to the title track and I honestly rather she had not gone back there.

The album closes with "Summer Renaissance", which feels like such a strange closer. There ARE rumors this will be a 3 album cycle with this being album 1. I however, am unsure where it is going with this as the closer to the first part....if there is another. 

MUSIC: 5/10 - The music is a mixed bag. I like the things more oriented to "Break My Soul", and some while I am not a fan I recognize she did well. Other experimental pieces come off distracting and annoying. 

LYRICS: 3/10 - Dull lyricism plagues the album and weighs it down. I know Beyonce is capable of something far more compelling than this. It also feels like she is trying to shove too many lyrical sentences in some of the melodies, making it sound too forced.

OVERALL: 4/10 - Solid miss for me - which is really most Beyonce work to me. Shining tracks are Break My Soul, Virgo's Groove, and America has a Problem.