Beyonce - Renaissance
R&B/Electronic/Pop – Released July 29, 2022 – 16 songs, 62 mins
ROZ
There are very few names that have the drawing power of this week's artist. Beyonce is the epitome of the female superstar, with the ravenous fanbase and meteoric record sales to prove it. Six years removed from her universally acclaimed solo release Lemonade, She has returned from the shadows to drop Renaissance, to the Bey-hives absolute delight. Touted as having a dance-driven, disco-infused sound, this reviewer's ears perk up. It's time to put on our Bey-keeper outfit and enter the hive.
I will get this out of the way right now: I am not this album's target audience. That’s totally fine - the messages throughout this album are empowering and also cut deep into the core of critical societal issues within the United States of America. Music is a universal language, so let’s objectively dive into the music itself. Not only does Renaissance pull from a massive pool of genres, it also meticulously samples from dozens of sources - where every sample is layered or manipulated in such a way that everything finds its perfect place. We’re constantly shift gears as we traverse the course, going from reggaeton/dancehall (I'm That Girl, Cozy, Alien Superstar, Energy, Move, Heated), to disco (Cuff It, Virgo's Groove, Summer Renaissance), to deep house (Break My Soul), to RnB (Church Girl), and even to dark techno (Pure/Honey), to my surprise. Tempos are fleeting and genre’s are an afterthought, with this reviewers second favourite of the bunch, Pure/Honey, traversing through four styles of music in four minutes. To this ex-DJ’s delight, many of the tracks mix into each other seamlessly - as if Bey herself was behind a pair of CDJ’s front stage at a smokey night club A/Bing on the crossfader of a DJM-800. Ahhh, the good old days.
While Too Sweet Reviews unanimously decided to skip Drake’s own dance music-styled summer release Honestly, Nevermind (and for good reason), the biggest fear going into Renaissance would be that this effort would simply be another cash grab trying to benefit on the resurgence of electronic music and disco in the current pop music scene. To my pleasant surprise, this was not the case whatsoever; the team behind Renaissance did a fantastic job. Renaissance is daring, it’s creative, and it creates fusions that I’ve yet to hear throughout the current pop-electronic soundscape that has been going on these past few years. With a list of production personnel and songwriting credits a mile long, this album serves as the epitome of “what if we threw all the money and resources possible into this one, coherent effort?”. Money well spent if you ask me - Renaissance is a certified radio smasher.
Overall Rating: 8.6/10
Favourite Song: Summer Renaissance
REID
Album number seventy-five for Too Sweet Reviews is royalty. Queen Beyonce is up with her post COVID release, Renaissance.
Beyonce has been around since I was a young buck, Jumpin’ Jumpin’ with the gals of Destiny’s Child to pay the Bills, Bills, Bills. Around the time Kelly Rowland was texting Nelly on Microsoft Excel and Michelle was doing her best to keep it together, Beyonce’s star simply shone too bright. She was meant to be an Independent Woman. She branched off to immediate commercial success and is known today as nothing less than a living legend. With all that said, the white male is far from her target audience and I doubt her fans will look to the three-pronged Newfie connection of TSR for validation. Nevertheless, Renaissance is this music lover’s first complete Beyonce album and reviewing the full body of work is the way it should be.
Before the music – hold your damn horses with this album cover. Pun absolutely intended. In 2023 Beyonce acts like a queen and will be treated as nothing less. The 40-year-old is in incredible shape, showing off her physique while posing majestically on a horse. Jay-Z’s a lucky dude.
That swagger translates to the music. BREAK MY SOUL was the album’s first release, showing a drastic change to house music. It bangs hard and is undoubtedly one of the best on the album. Oddly enough, it’s the second time this year we’ve reviewed a song sampling Robin S’ 90’s hit, Show Me Love, as Charli XCX also did on Used To Know Me. A few songs in and it’s clear this is a full-on dance compilation. Every song transitions masterfully to the next and the production team did a truly remarkable job piecing together this puzzle, keeping the throttle pinned basically the whole way through.
How do I put this in the simplest of terms? Beyonce’s vocals are brilliant. Her versatility is an embarrassment of riches giving her so many weapons. She chants, raps and grunts in between sounding like an angel. It’s on display the entire album and it’s worth hearing for yourself.
Highlights are CUFF IT which has ‘Girl’s Night!’ written all over it with her playful vocals and excellent brass. She dug into the Kendrick Mr. Morale – Count Me Out lyric book with repeated ‘fuck-it-ups’ and I’m here for it. After seven straight dance jams, PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA is a welcome change of pace and a nice one for the couples. VIRGO’S GROOVE is a friggin jam and would be the best of the bunch if not for its six-minute run time. THIQUE and a few others get the juices flowin, if ya know what I mean. And she closes with Summer Renaissance, an excellent throwback to Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. This album is jam packed with hits.
Renaissance breaks from Beyonce’s sonic norm but continues to deliver in areas she’s mastered for decades. She’s sexual and provocative while simultaneously empowering with a message of acceptance and comfort. This time she does it with a compilation of club bangers meant for nights out after maybe a few too many covid nights in.
Overall Rating: 8.6/10
Favourite Song: CUFF IT
LUNDI
The year is 2012. It’s Friday. I’m strolling home from my job at the brewery with a free case of bud heavy and a fuck work mentality. I open the door of the apartment to see my roommate sitting on the couch sipping a G&T. ‘Happy Friday’ he laughs, as he leans over and presses play to blast mashup DJ extraordinaire and party favourite artist Girl Talk over the sound system.
This week on TSR I couldn’t help but be reminded of those simpler times as Beyoncé’s latest album Renaissance filled my ears. While Beyoncé differs in that she includes original lyrics, both artists have one main goal in mind: sample as many songs as possible across various genres to create one long dance party consisting of perfect transition after perfect transition.
In short Beyoncé’s mission to create this ultimate dance album was a success when considering the big picture. As the overall visionary she pulls at the historical roots of black musical contribution and proudly displays them throughout the hour plus. It’s a strong use of her platform as she strives to celebrate the lives of suppressed minorities by showing off their musical excellency. Still as the surface continued to be scratched and the album repeated itself I couldn’t help but feel a little hallow. This album wears you down with repeat listens. Instead of creating a party for the ages the album composition itself oddly ends up mimicking one of a lackluster social gathering experience.
The album starts off slow to say the least but hey, nobody brings their ‘A’ game for the early party attendees. You’re not trying to impress the guys sitting around at 7PM chugging Miller Lattes. I’m That Girl, Cozy, and Alien Superstar have some OK moments but for the most part are underwhelming. Nothing in this opening trio reflects why Beyoncé is the queen. It’s a slow burn build that leaves the listener unsure if this next 50 minutes is about to be a disaster or not. Maybe this party isn’t going to live up hype.
Once the three drink minimum (or in this case three song minimum) is reached however, the feeling of doubt fades away as the brass family kicks down the door. Beyoncé finally breaks out of her controlled comfort zone and shows off some vocal range over a disco beat on Cuff It while accompanied by an excellent mixture of trumpets and saxophones. The highs continue with standout single Break My Soul, the powerful anthem Church Girl, and the funky Virgo’s Groove. The beats are crisp, Bey’s vocals are rangy and powerful, and the samples are flawlessly mixed in the middle portion of the album. Suddenly people are dancing on tables and belting out the wrong lyrics.
Now though we get to the dangerous part. The party is going tremendously but you’ve finished all your booze and you’re on the verge of blacking out and speaking gibberish. I’m sure I’ll be swarmed by the hive for this but unfortunately this is the feeling invoked on the home stretch of the Renaissance. Beyonce chooses to tone down the production a bit and take center stage herself which reveals the ugly and downright ridiculous lyrics that make up the album. While she does have some powerful quips throughout, production masks what for the most part are nonsensical phrases. Some songs like Heated, Thique, and America Has A Problem are downright head scratching. Its liken to being trapped in a vortex with the drunken party goer who you can’t get to shut up. Before you know it, Moi Renee is screaming ‘Honey’ over and over like a cab obnoxiously honking its horn to take you home. You think to yourself was it all even worth it?
Renaissance samples 23 previously written tracks, has to credit over 100 writers, and it’s personnel contribution list is a mile long. When it’s all put together its a technical production masterpiece, but this isn’t a team album, it’s a Beyonce album, and it feels like she showed up to the party and drank everyone’s booze.
Renaissance doesn’t make me want to fly into the beehive to help make honey for Queen B but I’m happy to be on the outside buzzing around with a solid appreciation for the full colony.
Overall Rating: 7.2/10
Favourite Song: Break My Soul