My return is now permanent, thanks to the end of exams. Expect a horrific stream of selfless plugging on my Twitter feed.
Yes yes, I know, worst pun known to man, but it is unbelievably true.
Yesterday, Mrs Jay-Z, otherwise known as Beyonce Knowles, released her fourth album in the UK, and today in the US. The record, called '4', funnily enough, is a far step from the likes of I Am... Sasha Fierce, but has stripped back all the big drama to the old Destiny's Child days. It is a work of art, rather than a record. It is something you would happily have on a loop all day. I've waxed lyrical about how good Lady Gaga's new album is, likewise Elbow's, but Beyonce's record reinvents her sound, but at the same time manages to keep it the same - something the previous two haven't done. It really is quite special.
So, having spent the last two days having a few listens, in typical GMOAI fashion, let's take you for a quick spin round the album...
The record begins with the beautiful 1+1, a ballad that takes us right back to the album tracks from her first album Dangerously In Love. Performed as part of her headlining gig at Glastonbury on Sunday, the song captivated the audience, albeit with slightly creepy lyrics like 'Make love to me', having just told everyone the song is all about peace and being anti-war...
I Care has a heartbeat strewn throughout with the world's most catchy drum beat, and sounds like a cross between Leona Lewis and Nicki Minaj, with her smooth R&B vocals over the top. The synthesised layers from I Miss You give a soft '80's feel, and take the tempo right back down. Beyonce doesn't use power in her voice, making it a quite stunning record, combining her new sound with the old sounds we all know and love. Even the slow fade out isn't expected in the slightest, and immediately pulls up the next one.
B's new single, Best Thing I Never Had, has a wonderful orchestral backdrop, with strings and the piano making up the foundations for the synthesisers to make her voice sound quite so incredible. The heavy drums through the chorus, and singalong backing vocals make this one a big crowdpleaser, and the message of revenge, and how karma has bitten back makes this one something everyone can relate to. Not the one you want sung to you, put it that way.
Kanye makes an uncredited appearance on Party, which also features vocals from Andre 3000 - and it's verging on hip hop. His rap breaks the whole thing up, and adds a different element to a B track that we haven't properly seen since Deja Vu with Jay-Z. Yet Beyonce makes this one work, not Andre, and the chorus of 'We like to party, ay, ay, ay' creates images of this track appearing in every nightclub across the globe over the coming weeks. Rather Die Young is quite a disappointing follow-up to Party, and will be a track that will work on tour, but not on the charts. The repetitive verses just don't work here, but having seen that Luke Steele, of Empire of the Sun fame, wrote the song, you can begin to understand the ideas behind it.
Start Over has an African feel to it, and Beyonce begins to pull it out the bag here. Up to this point, the record is actually just quite a good one, but from here onwards, it's something special. A full-on emotional song, presumably about trying to break up with someone, it is something you can feel, and begin to 'interact' with. If it's even possible to interact with music....
But then comes my favourite moment from the whole album - Love On Top. Now this record could quite have easily been from an early '90's Mariah album, and has that fun, soulful production to it. Backing vocals are high, lots of horns, unbelievably catchy chorus, wonderfully-cheesy quadruple key change, and plenty of smiles. I mean, towards the end of it, only the cats could hear. Lyrically, it could win Eurovision, but in its final form, this will be a massive, massive summer smash if it gets a release.
Countdown received massive airplay when initially leaked, and the continual countdown from 10 to 1 adds a strange element to a track that wouldn't go amiss in a carnival. Again, very hip-hop, but the chorus reminds me a lot of Signs, another track from Dangerously In Love, that had a listy feel. This just works. For some strange reason, mind you. It really shouldn't.
A big build-up at the start of End Of Time continues the carnival theme, and just makes you want to dance. Beyonce seems to want to get through lyrics very quickly on this album, but it got big cheers on Sunday at Glastonbury. The beats are back, and the horns make a triumphant return, and this could quite easily have been straight off a Shakira record. Found myself humming 'Say you'll never let me go' all day as well. Beautifully produced, too.
Diane Warren appears as writer for the penultimate track, and it has a very Diane Warren sound too - if you know what I mean. Heavily strings based, I Was Here is a track I personally find really disappointing. Not a fan of Warren, but this really does just take the mick - repetitive, slow, horribly dull, and made even worse by what follows - Run The World (Girls), the track that was lead single off the album, and is a real grower. Heavy, heavy beats, cracking bridge throughout, catchy chorus and amazing dance moves to pull off in any club - this is the one that just tops off the record.
I know it is all very wordy, and song-by-song doesn't do it justice - you need to hear the whole thing to really appreciate quite how good an album this is. Yes, there are moments that based on personal opinion, it isn't great - but doesn't every album have that? It's quite brilliant, and won't get as much publicity as it deserves. So go get it. Please?
And as added incentive to go find the album, here's Run The World (Girls), from Sunday night's Glastonbury show!
Taken from General Musings of an Idiot: http://www.gmoai.com
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