Just one more week, to put it politely, after fans had been speculating and digging through Beyoncé’s web presence for days, the singer-act revealed on Sunday that she would be dropping new songs shortly.
Shortly after the half, Beyoncé and comedian Tony Hale made jokes about doing something that would “break the internet,” which is Verizon’s 5G network. She rattled through a few riffs, including “BOTUS,” “Bar-bey,” and “Beyonc-A.I.” that sounded like Barbies.
Just as the commercial concluded, she said, “Drop the new music.” Not too long after, Beyoncé’s website was updated to include the news that a new album, dubbed “Act II,” would be out on March 29.
Based on the sound and appearance of two new songs, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” that surfaced online rapidly, it seemed to be the second installment of Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album project, possibly with a country-rock theme.
The song “Texas Hold ‘Em” starts out with a fast-paced guitar solo before kicking up a stomping beat. Beyoncé rhymes the words “Texas” and “Lexus,” singing catchy lines like “It’s a real live boogie and a real live hoedown.” The epic ballad “16 Carriages” features Beyoncé singing about looking back at a life after losing innocence “at an early age,” as the guitars swell with organ-loud percussion.
The images for both include Beyoncé wearing cowboy hats, which were a staple of her Renaissance World Tour from the previous year, as well as her ongoing distinctive look, which was on display at the Grammy Awards last week.
Similar to the original “Renaissance,” Beyoncé’s communication style has changed with the release of the new album. Unexpectedly dropping her album “Beyoncé” in 2013, she captured the world’s attention and sparked a trend in the music industry for unexpected “drops.” Despite being hinted to by a Super Bowl appearance, its 2016 follow-up, “Lemonade,” made an immediate impression. Beyoncé’s disclosures during the “Renaissance” era have resembled traditional commercials more than anything else.
Beyoncé stated in an Instagram announcement that her song “Renaissance” was only the first part of a “three act project” that she had recorded during the epidemic when she first released it in July 2022. That record, which she referred to as “Act I,” was “a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world.” With a throwback dance motif reminiscent of the 1990s, the record debuted at number one and served as the focal point of her tour last year. Tickets for the show sold $580 million, second only to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, according to trade newspaper Pollstar.
On the song “Daddy Lessons” from her 2016 album “Lemonade,” Beyoncé experimented with country music; the Chicks were included in a remix. That November, she performed with the Nashville ensemble at the Country Music Association Awards. The performance elicited mixed reactions from online country music enthusiasts, but the singer’s devoted following fiercely defended it.