Beyoncé is back. A new album, Renaissance, is out July 29, a product listing on her website confirms. The record is seemingly subtitled “Act I.” Tweets from streaming services alluded to the album after Beyoncé’s social media bios were updated with the title and date. In keeping with her trademark mysterious release strategies, no further information has been revealed, though an unverifiable tweet from the tireless fan account Beyoncé Legion suggests Renaissance is a 16-song album. Pitchfork has emailed Beyoncé’s publicist for comment and more information.
In a new British Vogue cover story unveiled shortly after the announcement, Edward Enninful, the editor-in-chief of British Vogue, described hearing the album in person: “Instantly, a wall of sound hits me,” Enninful wrote. “Soaring vocals and fierce beats combine and in a split second I’m transported back to the clubs of my youth. I want to get up and start throwing moves. It’s music I love to my core. Music that makes you rise, that turns your mind to cultures and subcultures, to our people past and present, music that will unite so many on the dance floor, music that touches your soul. As ever with Beyoncé, it is all about the intent. I sit back, after the wave, absorbing it all.”
The box set listing confirming Renaissance includes a CD, T-shirt, and a collectible box. The product image will update when campaign artwork is revealed. The box will include a 28-page booklet and mini poster. Yesterday (June 15), after Beyoncé’s profile pictures went blank, fans speculated that a graphic tweeted by her nonprofit, Beygood, cryptically signaled imminent music. In a montage of album covers, only one square showed an unexplained image: a gloved red hand, pointing towards the album cover to its left—Brandy’s B7. We now know that B7, Beyoncé’s seventh album, is Renaissance.
The new era of ceremonious Beyoncé releases began the night of December 13, 2013, when she surprised the world by suddenly releasing her self-titled visual album. One week before she released Lemonade, she shared a teaser trailer for its visual album counterpart; details weren’t revealed until the full album was released. Those albums were filled with star contributors who kept their work secret. Beyoncé featured Frank Ocean, Drake, Jay-Z, and Sia. Lemonade credited Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, the Weeknd, James Blake, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, and Father John Misty.