My country & best ’un!
COWBOY CARTER ★★★★ BEY’S four rhinestone stars opus gets a giddy-up from the likes of
Pharrell, Raphael Saadiq, Ryan Tedder, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Nile Rodgers and more. Here’s my track by track on pop’s finest hoedown.
AMERIICAN REQUIEM: Bey’s incredible gospel vocals morph into darker country blues reminding fans of her political aspirations: “There’s a lot of chatter in here, do ya hear me?”
BLACKBIIRD: True to the original Beatles cover with bonus harmonisation.
16 CARRIAGES: A reflection on Beyonce’s childhood and the relationship between parents and their kids in general.
PROTECTOR: Bey’s young daughter Rumi makes an appearance on this acoustic ballad about motherhood and knowing “you’re gonna shine on your own” one day.
MY ROSE: More amazing harmonisation on this short and sweet interlude.
SMOKE HOUR II: Veteran Willie Nelson’s wee interlude playing the part of a Texan DJ.
TEXAS HOLD ’EM: The No1 hit is a real foot-stompin’ romp after a few ballads.
BODYGUARD: The poppiest moment on the LP, Bey sounds seductive over a Prince-ish backing.
DOLLY P: Spoken word moment from Parton who references “Becky with the good hair” – the source of Lemonade’s Jay-Z cheating scandal.
JOLENE: Bey’s update on the Parton classic refuses to beg the woman not to take her man, instead she issues a stark warning:
DAUGHTER: Soundtrack to an imagined Western where Bey leaves another woman “black and blue”.
SPAGHETTII: “Genres are a funny little concept aren’t they?” goes the Linda Martell sample as Bey raps “petty petty” in relation to the backlash over her country leanings.
ALLIIGATOR TEARS: Bluesy highlight perfect for beans around the campfire.
JUST FOR FUN: A tender tale, with gospel touches.
II MOST WANTED: A Miley Cyrus love song where they both promise: “I’ll be a shotgun rider ’til the day I die.”
LEVII’S JEANS: Fellow genre-hopper Post Malone joins Bey’s saucy love song where she wishes she was her man’s pants.
FLAMENCO: A meticulous vocal piece with interweaving harmonies.
YA YA: These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ gets an update on this upbeat gem.
OH LOUISIANA: A short Chuck Berry interlude, the pioneer of Black rock ’n’ roll.
DESERT EAGLE: Driven by a Thundercat-style bassline.
RIIVERDANCE: Bey’s R&B instincts create a uniquely modern guitar-picking anthem.
II HANDS II HEAVEN: Traditional Beyoncé ballad exploding to life.
TYRANT: Parton returns briefly on this romp of electronic instruments and fiddles.
SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN’: “Buckin like a mechanical bull” booms Bey on this wonderfully weird rodeo hip hop anthem featuring rapper Shaboozey.
AMEN: “Mercy on me,” prays Bey for a full-on gospel finale.
BEYONCE’S new album is much more than just a country project.
In her own words, it’s the “best music I’ve ever made”. Cowboy Carter arrived yesterday to a universal “Yee-haw” but it’s not all Texas twang.
Bey pays homage to all the music she loved growing up visiting Houston rodeos – from The Beatles and rhythm & blues to Black folk music.
She said: “I think people are going to be surprised because I don’t think this music is what everyone expects but it’s the best music I’ve ever made.
“This album took over five years.
“It’s been really great to have the time and the grace to be able to take my time with it.
“I was initially going to put Cowboy Carter out first but, with the pandemic, there was too much heaviness in the world. We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance. But I had to trust God’s timing.”
Cowboy Carter is Act II in her three-part Renaissance project, but easily her most accessible as it’s largely realised on acoustic guitar and piano with traditional instruments like washboard, ukulele, fiddle and even boot stomps on hardwood floors.
She sees each song as a reimagined Western, taking inspiration from films like Urban Cowboy, Killers Of The Flower Moon and ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?
“My process is that I typically have to experiment,” Beyoncé said. “I enjoy being open to have the freedom to get all aspects of things I love out and so I worked on many songs.
“I recorded probably 100 songs. Once that is done, I am able to put the puzzle together and realise the consistencies and the common themes, and then create a solid body of work.”
Beyoncé has faced a backlash from traditional country folk in the States, but she doesn’t want to be labelled by genres.
She explained: “The joy of creating music is that there are no rules. The more I see the world evolving the more I felt a deeper connection to purity.
“With artificial intelligence and digital filters and programming, I wanted to go back to real instruments, and I used very old ones.
“All the sounds were so organic and human, everyday things like the wind, snaps and even the sound of birds and chickens, the sounds of nature.”
The sound of Beyoncé has never been better.