#LEMONADE Review
New Beyoncé!
“Pulling a Beyoncé” has seemingly become a term since 2013’s BEYONCÉ appeared on iTunes out of nowhere, and ever since then fans have been anticipating the next random drop. Even so when Bey teased her HBO special #LEMONADE via twitter, not many people expected this. LEMONADE is part album part visual experience and entirely Beyoncé and, will make many fans very happy.
First thing is first, the album is also a short movie that premiered on HBO and should be experienced together. The album serves as the soundtrack for the film, which adds occasionally stunning imagery to the already vivid lyrics. It is obvious from the beginning that the two were created together. There is a sense of coherence and direction to the project as a whole that is clearly translated in the film. Unlike BEYONCÉ, the visuals are more than a string of music videos this time around, but a plot heavy story about the black woman and her place in society throughout history. It is brilliantly executed and definitely should be watched.
Now onto the music. Lemonade is a 12 track project that finds Beyoncé mixing and singing over a variety of genres. A definite parallel can be drawn to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly here, as Beyoncé variety in genres are all reflections of the black culture that she is celebrating. Jazz, Gospel, Rap, R’nB, it is all here. “Daddy Lessons” is a full out country song and nothing like what Beyoncé has ever done before. “Freedom” which features the aforementioned Kendrick Lamar, is produced by an old producer go-to of Jay-Z’s and sounds like something HOV could have destroyed in the early 00’s. In between, there is the silky smooth sounds of the more modern R’n’B, as in Rihanna’s Anti, as well as club songs such as the previously released “Formation”. Needless to say, this is a very different soundscape to previous Beyoncé albums.
In many ways, this album can be seen as a sort of protest to the music that Beyoncé is used to make. There is no Drunk in Love single here. Excluding Formation, the album’s last track, there is no obvious radio single. 6 Inch is the official album single and a feature from The Weeknd may help it gather initial traction, but it probably won’t have the same resonance as some of Bey’s previous works.
However, Beyoncé said the same about the BEYONCÉ album, that during the process she scrapped the tracklist and started again because she was not feeling the music anymore. The dark broodiness of that album initially put people off, it wasn’t the light pop she was known for. Yet 3 years later, we still listen to it. Beyoncé’s protest album was her embracing her true self. In many interviews she has said that she felt that she couldn’t be the strong sexual woman she is in real life through the music she was known for making and that she felt constrained by this image. 2008’s I Am…Sasha Fierce was full of heart-broken love songs and power ballads, something that she felt she could not keep up. Instead, she wrote songs such as BEYONCÉ’s “Rocket” which opens with “Let me sit this ass on your face.” It’s a rejection of her public celebrity image, but supports her ideals of female empowerment.
Cut to Lemonade, which is again in part a piece of protest music, but this time not on Beyoncé own image, but on the society that she resides in. Nonetheless, it is also a celebration of black culture and the women therein. “6 Inch”, “Sorry” and “Formation” tackle these issues with a precise grace that only great songwriting can accomplish, managing to both exalt the women in society and criticise their prominence in it. In a grand scope, what Lemonade does so well is be both protest and appreciation music.
With a smaller scope Lemonade is an emotional journey akin to an audiobook. The songs tell of Beyoncé finding out she was cheated on, to lamenting it, to being angered by it, to feeling empowered by it, to trying to move past it and finally forgiveness. Each track is a clear step in the process and her emotional state is clearly traceable throughout, either through the genre of the track or through her own vocals. Special kudos to “Sandcastles”, where Beyoncé’s voice is so bare it almosts hurts to listen to it. It is obvious to see why twitter began attacking Jay-Z after the album dropped.
This segmentation of the tracks creates an album that is best heard from start to finish. There aren’t many tracks here someone may want to just listen too casually, and they probably should opt to listen to the whole album if that is the case. On the other hand, if there is a specific mood you want a song to fit to, this album will have it. Feeling cheated on? “ Hold Up”. Don’t feel like apologizing for something you did? “Sorry”. Getting ready for a night out? “6 Inch”. Feeling like love doesn’t exist? “Love Drought”. Feeling like you just made up with an old friend? “All Night”.
Beyoncé’s musical gift extends simply good vocals. She can expertly integrate social commentary, female empowerment and a celebration of black culture all into an album filled with great tracks. And as if that wasn’t enough, there is a movie to go alongside it all. The lack of immediate radio songs means Lemonade will not win her new fans, but protest art usually doesn’t. Even though she is projected to sell 500,000 to 600,000 copies this week, this isn’t an album for the fans. This is a platform for Beyoncé to express herself as more than just a gifted singer, but also an important voice in the modern conversation on race.
(Originally written for and published on Frequency21.)
