As expected after days of speculation by fans, Beyonce has announced a new album: “Act II” to be released on March 29th. This would be the second act of her Renaissance trilogy. In addition, Beyonce has shared two fresh songs from the album: “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages.”
“Act II” release to break the Internet!
Verizon had dropped a hint about the album release through a commercial during the Superbowl. We saw her teasing about releasing new music to ‘break the Internet‘. The commercial ended with her words “Drop the new music”.
That was exactly what she did minutes later, when she revealed the news with a video on Instagram. From how it looks, it seems that she is going all country this time. She even wore a white cowboy hat to the 2024 Grammys last weekend!
We get to hear Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline” and some other old-school tunes in the announcement video. While a group of men seem to be looking up in wonder, the track changes from “Maybelline” to Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ’em”. And then we finally get to see what they were looking at: A massive billboard featuring a scantily-clad Beyonce with the words “Texas! Hold ‘Em”.
Co-written by Canadian artist Lowell, “Texas Hold ‘Em” has production and performance contributions from Rhiannon Giddens, Raphael Saadiq, Hit-Boy, Nathan Ferraro, Killah B, and more. “16 Carriages” features Dave Hamelin, Gavin Williams, Justus West, Saadiq, among others.
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What are the songs about?
“Texas Hold ‘Em” starts with a typical rapidly-plucked country style guitar, from where the song shifts to stomping beats where you can’t help but tap your feet along! Then we get to see a ravishing Beyonce in the video looking killer in a racy silver bikini which goes perfectly well with the black background. With lines like “It’s a real life boogie and a real life hoedown”, the song is bound to keep you hooked. Whereas “16 Carriages” seems to be more about personal sentiments, where Beyonce talks about losing innocence at an early age.
“Break My Soul”, the first single from “Renaissance,” Beyonce’s seventh studio album, won the Best Dance/Electronic recording at the 2023 Grammys. The year saw Beyonce raising her career total tally to 32 wins, subsequently breaking the record for the most number of victories secured by an artist in the award show’s history.
