★★★★☆
Favourites (in album order):
- AMERIICAN REQUIEM
- BLACKBIIRD
- JOLENE
- FLAMENCO
- DESERT EAGLE
- II HANDS II HEAVEN
- TYRANT
- SWEET ☆ HONEY ☆ BUCKIIN’
- AMEN
- (TEXAS HOLD ‘EM)
Vocals on vocals on vocals. The album as a whole is difficult to talk about in a succinct way because it’s definitely on the convoluted side. Just like a juke box, you can cherry pick your way through the songs, and we hear this motif with the slot machine sound at the end of tracks halfway into the LP, just as juke boxes are referenced by Willie Nelson in the interludes. Beyoncé sets out to do it all, and that’s clear in the 27 track listing. To quote the acclaimed performer, “This is not a country album. It is a Beyoncé album,” and listening to the album play around with the boundaries of genre makes that clear. Beyoncé goes to rap-yoncé, operatic-yoncé, dance-yoncé and sultry-yoncé.
AMERIICAN REQUIEM opens the album in the grandest way possible, with deep rock’n’roll and Prince-inspired sounds. “America, the big ideas are buried here,” she yells out. “Used to say I spoke too country, then the rejection came and said I wasn’t country enough – said I wouldn’t saddle up. If that ain’t country, tell me what is.” Beyoncé seems to be touching on the obstacles she’s faced from the perception of what genre she should be in, her experience at the 2016 Country Music Awards to recently not being played on country music stations. She questions, “A lot of taking up space … Can you stand me?”
While BLACKBIIRD moves me to tears (“You were only waiting for this moment to arise”), it sets the stage well for 16 CARRIAGES. Beyoncé’s cover of the divine track by The Beatles is stunningly moving, especially with the knowledge that Paul McCartney wrote it for black women in response to the 1960’s U.S. civil rights movement and racial tensions in the Deep South. Beyoncé includes and shines a light on several black women country singers featured at the tail end of the song: Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts.
PROTECTOR features and begins with Beyoncé’s youngest daughter, Rumi Carter, asking her mum if she can read a lullaby. This song is a grower, alongside the consecutive interlude MY ROSE, sang in a falsetto akin to a sizzling Kali Uchis track.
Throughout the album, there’s a lot of interludes that aid the transitions between songs and which the LP rely on in the first half to piece it all together. Willie Nelson appears on a country radio station in two interludes, giving a taste of western aesthetic, with Linda Martell, the first black woman to gain notoriety in country music, on a latter interlude.
TEXAS HOLD ‘EM still has a powerful vocal force behind it, and holds the potential to bring everybody to their feet. This swiftly moves into BODYGUARD, a pop-like venture for the singer – one which caused confusion among fans after Taylor Swift’s name appeared on the credits list on Genius (she is not believed to be on the track).
The DOLLY P interlude then introduces the great Dolly Parton into the album journey, and she gives a funny commentary about their shared “hussies” — Becky with the good hair, and of course, Jolene. This makes for a great segway into the cover of JOLENE, with a twist.
Beyoncé continues to push the envelope from what’s expected and goes on to sing Italian opera on DAUGHTER, which begins with the most intricate of guitar strums. The powerhouse uses the infamous Italian aria named Caro Mio Ben, to exhibit the extent of her singing chops.
“Genres are a funny little concept … in practice, some may feel confined”, Linda Martell says at the start of SPAGHETTII, featuring country artist (and rapper delight it appears) Shaboozey.
“Sometimes you don’t know what you like and someone you trust turns you onto some real good shit,” Willie Nelson returns narrating his interlude before a feature from former X Factor audition-ee Willie Jones.
Miley Cyrus being featured next to Beyoncé is one of the single best things to happen on this LP. II MOST WANTED is like a homage to the Hannah Montana movie era from the guitar intro and Miley’s voice to the bridge of the two vocalists together – it’s what the people missed.
I have to acknowledge that Post Malone is the next surprise feature on this album and mother bee is guiding him to another genre where he can flourish, because he pulls it off greatly.
FLAMENCO was my second instant favourite (after II HANDS II HEAVEN) on the LP. The intricate guitar and sensuality is too much to bear. Then, Beyoncé does something great and goes on a sickening Renaissance-reminiscent run at the end of the album from the genre-bending YA YA, which incorporates instrumentals from ‘These Boots Were Made For Walking’, the guitar-stricken OH LOUISIANA, to the filthy, Thundercat-type bass and funk, one-minute track DESERT EAGLE. These tracks lead into RIIVERDANCE (“Bounce on that shit, dance, no hands”) which has the cleanest, most satisfying transition on the album into II HANDS II HEAVEN.
II HANDS II HEAVEN uses a backing indie synth sound that’s reminiscent of Jamie XX. To add to this, Beyoncé brings us back to the gospel and swiftly turns from church into Dolly Parton introducing TYRANT. The beat on this track gives Meet the Carters magic, while meeting the finesse of a violin. But she’s not done yet. SWEET ☆ HONEY ☆ BUCKIIN’ maintains a sickening beat, even with the high dose of “honey” in the middle, potentially hinting to the track being the sister to PURE / HONEY from Renaissance. The singer also playfully makes a jab at her constant snubs at winning Album of the Year awards at the Grammy’s: “AOTY I ain’t win, I ain’t stunting by them, take that shit on the chin, come back and fuck up the pen.”
“Like a mechanical bull,” we buckiin’, the range of dance beats used in this song alone has us on the edge of our seats solely because we’ve just taken a country-rock journey into dance and rap. To close this journey with AMEN is beyond what anybody could expect. It’s powerful, slow, rhythmic with its own dance beat to begin with, and strong in its gospel.
It’s notable that she changes the lyrics from the album’s open, “America, the big ideas are buried here”, to “America Requiem, them old ideas are buried here” in AMEN. The outro ends with a satisfying drop to end the ride of the LP, and you’re left instantly wanting to get back on it.
My Goddess Complex 
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