Beyoncé's renaissance is here and we're in the light.
The Superstar's seventh studio album was released on Midnight, cementing Beyoncé's boundless development as an artist.
The 16-track album is an ode to the dance floor, but it's also a complex take on how queer and club culture has shaped music over the decades, from disco to house and everything in between. It is also research.
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"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," Bey wrote ahead of the album's release. "Thank you to all of the pioneers who originate culture, to all of the fallen angels whose contributions have gone unrecognized for far too long. This is a celebration for you."
This are the biggest takeaway.
There are no music videos—yet.
Beyoncé is taking a different route for the release of her seventh studio album. For her last two releases, she dropped either music videos for every track or a visual album simultaneously with the full album. But fans are still waiting for the visuals on this one (including the music video for "Break My Soul," the project's lead single). Beyoncé hinted in an Instagram post ahead of the album's release that she wanted fans to take their time with the music, which suggests she's not rushing a release of the accompanying visuals.
It's her most explicit album yet.
All but four songs on Renaissance ("Break My Soul," "Energy," "Plastic off the Sofa," and "Move") are noted to be explicit on the album. The project is Beyoncé at her most lyrically daring; we've never seen her embrace her own sensuality like this before. The tracks "Cozy" and "Thique" specifically see Bey extolling her confidence in who she is, what she looks like, and how the world views her.
Renaissance is all about the dance floor.
Fans knew Beyoncé's seventh studio album would be dance heavy judging from the album's artwork, as well as the premiere single, "Break My Soul," but this is a completely ballad-free Beyoncé project—new territory for the singer. The album's mellowest moment is "Plastic off the Sofa," a sensual, pared-down track that still provides a subtle groove. Along with house music, Beyoncé experiments with dancehall and Afrobeats on tracks like "Move" and "Energy" (two songs that might remind fans of Black Is King, her project adjacent to The Lion King).
Multiple songs pay homage to ballroom culture.
Before Renaissance's official release, Beyoncé wrote in an open letter to fans that the project was inspired by her godmother, her Uncle Jonny, and her queer fan base. Multiple songs, including "Alien Superstar" and "Pure/Honey," incorporate pulsing rhythms and vogue-inspired chanting made for the dance floor. Bey even gives her late godmother a shout-out on "Heated," singing, "Uncle Jonny made my dress / That cheap spandex, she looks a mess."
She samples Donna Summer for the second time in her career.
Along with house music, Renaissance incorporates elements of disco, including in the album's closing track, "Summer Renaissance." The song samples Donna Summer's 1977 hit "I Feel Love" and, in a way, pays tribute to the start of Beyoncé's illustrious career—she previously sampled Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" for her 2003 hit single "Naughty Girl."
