Beyonce is back on the scene with her first solo album, Renaissance, which will be released on 29 July 2022. The 16-song project also includes “act i,” which could suggest more “acts” to follow after this initial release.
The move comes almost a week after the Grammy winner sent fans into a tailspin when she deleted her profile pic on all of her social media platforms such as her Instagram and YouTube accounts.
Beyoncé has been known for her element of surprise in her solo music career, providing no warning before she dropped her self-titled 2013 album exclusively on iTunes. The lack of marketing didn't hurt, as the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Beyoncé changed her Instagram bio to announce the release of Renaissance and graced the cover of British Vogue for a brief profile, teasing what’s to come as well as posed for a set of stunning photos. These images feature the 28-time Grammy winner posing amongst gilded set pieces — featuring horses, motorcycles, and oversized disco balls.
Are these aesthetics an indication of what her new album will sound like? That’s yet to be revealed.
'Renaissance' will be the follow-up to Beyoncé's 2016 album, 'Lemonade,' which was a "meditation" on black identity and marital infidelity.
🐝🐝🐝@Beyonce's #RENAISSANCE coming July 29. pic.twitter.com/tCQHPYR2qI
— Apple Music (@AppleMusic) June 16, 2022
The 40-year-old has kept busy in the intervening years, collaborating with her husband Jay-Z on 2018's "Everything is Love" and releasing a live album and film, "Homecoming" the following year.
She also contributed a song, "Black Parade", to the live-action remake of "The Lion King", which won her her 28th Grammy -- breaking the record for a female artist
It's also worth noting that Beyoncé just may have dropped the biggest clue to the title of her project during a 2021 interview with Harper's Bazaar. As she confirmed to the publication that new music was coming, the singer said she felt a "renaissance emerging."
I've been in the studio for a year and a half," she told the magazine last August. "Sometimes it takes a year for me to personally search through thousands of sounds to find just the right kick or snare. One chorus can have up to 200 stacked harmonies. Still, there's nothing like the amount of love, passion, and healing that I feel in the recording studio. After 31 years, it feels just as exciting as it did when I was nine years old. Yes, the music is coming!"
Renaissance can be pre-ordered on Spotify and Apple music.
