ビヨンセ 6年振り7作目となる待望のニュー・アルバム『RENAISSANCE』 (アナログ盤)

グラミー賞の累計28回の受賞により"女性アーティストとして最多受賞"の新記録を樹立し、本年度のアカデミー賞では映画『ドリームプラン』の主題歌「ビー・アライヴ」が初ノミネートされた世界的スーパースター=ビヨンセの6年ぶり7作目となる最新アルバム『RENAISSANCE』(ルネッサンス)。ビヨンセとJay-Z、ザ・ドリーム、トリッキー・スチュアート(ザ・ドリームのプロデューサー)がソング・ライティングに参加したアルバムからの先行曲「BREAK MY SOUL」は、90年代ハウス・アンセムとしてヒットしたRobin Sの「Show Me Love」と、Big Freediaの「Explode」がサンプリングされた夏らしいアップ・テンポ・トラックとなっている。

アルバムの発売にあたり、ビヨンセが自身のインスタグラムに寄せたコメントは下記の通り。
「このアルバムを制作することで、世界が恐怖に包まれていた時期に、夢を見たり安らぎを見出したりすることができたわ。ほぼ何も動いていなかった日々の中で、私は自由と冒険心を味わうことができた。私の目的は、他人にジャッジされることのない安全な場所を作り出すことだった。そこは完璧主義や過剰な心配から解き放たれた場所。叫び、解放し、自由を感じられる場所。これは美しい探求の旅だった。この音楽に喜びを見出してくれたら嬉しい。身体を揺り動かすきっかけになってくれたらと思う。ああ!そして唯一無二の、強くて、セクシーなあなたらしさを感じてほしい。」

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2022/08/05）

"Break My Soul" offered much to dissect as the preliminary single off Renaissance, Beyonces first solo studio album since Lemonade and part one of a promised three-act project. Integrating a flashback to early-90s crossover house hit "Show Me Love," the resilience anthem -- reinforced with an echoing gospel choir and sampled Big Freedia exhortations -- came across like a nostalgic dance remix preceding the original version. Instead, it slid neatly into place on the parent LP not only as an accurate representation but also as a foreshock to an hour-long housequake filled with irrepressible exuberance in celebration of self and sisterhood. Among those to whom Beyonce dedicates Renaissance is her late gay cousin and godmother, Uncle Jonny, credited for introducing her "to a lot of the music and culture that serve as inspiration for this album." The multitude of dancefloor sounds cultivated and celebrated since the late 60s in underground clubs by liberation-seeking gay, Black, and Latino dancers has been a natural ingredient in Beyonces recordings since the birth of Destinys Child (take the use of the Love Unlimited Orchestras proto-disco exemplar "Strange Games & Things" in "No, No, No, Pt. 2"), but it is the basis of Renaissance. The LP is top-to-bottom danceable and sequenced with each track setting up the next, through the ecstatic finale, where Beyonce most potently mixes sensuality and aggression, claiming her man with nods to Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Patrick Cowley, and Larry Heard. "Cuff It" is a disco-funk burner with Nile Rodgers inimitable rhythm guitar and a slick quote from Teena Maries biggest ballad, though it has all the vigor of Lady Ts uptempo classics. The more relaxed "Virgos Groove" is designed for circling the rink with its delectably plump bassline and handclaps, and moves to a private room where Beyonce commands, in one of the sets many memorable turns of phrase, "Motorboat, baby, spin around." Renaissance pulls from the more recent and present sonic developments with equal guile. Dancehall-derived dembow is stretched out for the strutting opener "Im That Girl." "Heated" works a chugging Afrobeats rhythm, and is keenly trailed by the swollen dubstep pulsations of "Thique." The most exciting moments fearlessly blend and switch eras. "Pure/Honey" alternates between a duly vulgar ballroom brush-off and pop-funk rapture, and "Church Girl," a rousing gospel-bounce marvel, weaves the Clark Sisters with the decidedly less-reverent DJ Jimi and the Showboys. Beyonce is vocally up to the challenge of juggling the almost-innumerable quantity of styles and references, sighing, purring, beaming, belting, and spitting fire with all the required conviction and attitude. Her congregation of fellow writers, producers, and vocalists is a formidable assembly of close collaborators (the-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Mike Dean, NOVA Wav), younger trailblazers (Honey Dijon, Kelman Duran, Tems), and legends (Grace Jones, Raphael Saadiq). Act II will presumably have at least one ballad. Theyre not missed here. ~ Andy Kellman

Rovi