Just hours after Beyoncé announced her upcoming sixth solo album, “Renaissance,” will arrive July 29, Variety received more information about the release from a source close to the project.
The album will feature both dance and country tracks, the source says, with contributions from hit songwriter Ryan Tedder, who co-wrote his 2008 hit “Halo” as well as hits for Adele, Taylor Swift, the Jonas Bros. and his own band, OneRepublic. Raphael Saadiq is also said to be involved, who has created hits for Mary J. Blige, D’Angelo, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Andra Day as well as his own excellent solo albums, and executive produced “A Seat at the Table”. the widely acclaimed 2016 album from Beyoncé’s sister, Solange.
It was unclear whether the country songs will appear on a separate album or as part of the first edition of “Renaissance.” Country isn’t new ground for the singer: “Daddy Lessons,” from 2016’s “Lemonade,” is heavy on twang and was even covered by the Chicks (then known as the Dixie Chicks).
Although the source didn’t say so, it also seems possible that Beyonce could release a new song tonight in honor of Juneteenth, like she did with her 2020 single “Black Parade.”
A rep for Beyoncé did not immediately respond to Varietyrequest for confirmation or additional information.
Fans have already been searching for information suggesting the album will contain 16 tracks, and the fact that it’s a multi-part release makes it clear that it’s billed as “Act 1.” Beyoncé’s website also offered pre-orders on four different box sets for the album, billed as “Pose” 1-4 and including a CD, t-shirt and box. However, since they all ship on the day of the album’s release, it seems likely that they are just different packages for “Act 1.”
The only public information about the music on the album comes from British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, who wrote with quintessentially British enthusiasm on the cover of Beyoncé magazine: “Instantly a wall of sound hits me. Soaring voices and ferocious rhythms combine and in a split second I’m transported to the clubs of my youth. I want to get up and start throwing moves. This is the music that I deeply love. Music that lifts you up, that turns your mind to cultures and subcultures, to our people past and present, music that will bring so many people together on the dance floor, music that touches your soul. As always with Beyoncé, it’s all about intention. I sit down, after the wave, absorbing it all.
Beyoncé has actually released four albums since her hit 2016 release “Lemonade,” though none of them are full Beyoncé solo albums: In 2018, she released “Everything Is Love,” a team with her husband Jay-Z as The Carters; in April 2019, she released “Homecoming,” an album of her electrifying 2018 headlining performance at Coachella, for which she was accompanied by a full marching band (which was also released as a Netflix special as part of a $60 million deal; and that summer she followed it up with “The Lion King: The Gift,” a companion album to the Disney film that featured several new songs by her – with contributions by Kendrick Lamar, Donald Glover and others – plus songs featuring 070 Shake, Tierra Whack and African artists like Burna Boy, Mr. Eazi, Tiwa Savage and others; a deluxe edition of this album includes three additional titles was released a year later.