Dance and country tracks will reportedly feature on Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’

 Beyoncé’s new album is set to feature both dance and country tracks, according to new reports.

‘Renaissance’, the pop titan’s first full-length album since 2016’s critically-adored ‘Lemonade’, is set to arrive on July 29. She announced it officially yesterday (June 16), after several days of teasing an announcement on social media.

Now, via Variety, more details have emerged through a source familiar with the album, which is presumably set to be a multi-part affair, given that ‘Renaissance’ is being trailed as ‘Act 1’. Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, who co-wrote ‘Halo’ with Beyoncé back in 2008, is reportedly on board, whilst Raphael Saadiq, who has penned hits for Mary J. Blige, D’Angelo, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Andra Day, is also apparently involved.

Beyoncé's new album will feature both dance and country-leaning tracks with contributions from hit songwriter Ryan Tedder, who co-wrote her 2008 hit “Halo," according to a source familiar with the project https://t.co/O1FdD8CIDZ

— Variety (@Variety) June 17, 2022

The record will reportedly feature 16 tracks, per some online sleuthing carried out by fans; as yet, no music has been released from it, with no indication of whether singles will precede it. However, some observers have pointed out that, with Juneteenth looming on Sunday (June 19), she may choose to surprise-drop a single to mark the occasion, as she did with ‘Black Parade’ back in 2020. 

Beyoncé appears on the cover of the latest issue of British Vogue, and comments made by editor Edward Enninful as part of the feature provide the deepest insight we yet have into what ‘Renaissance’ is set to musically entail. “Instantly, a wall of sound hits me,” says Enninful of his experience with ‘Renaissance’; his take appears to affirm the suggestion that Beyoncé is leaning into dancier textures.

“Soaring vocals and fierce beats combine and in a split second I’m transported back to the clubs of my youth,” he goes on. “I want to get up and start throwing moves. It’s music I love to my core. Music that makes you rise, that turns your mind to cultures and subcultures, to our people past and present, music that will unite so many on the dance floor, music that touches your soul. As ever with Beyoncé, it is all about the intent. I sit back, after the wave, absorbing it all.”