By Odeisel
At a certain point, artists have to concern themselves with longevity the transition towards a sustainable career. With her latest album, 4 Beyonce crafts an album that a married superstar, staring 30 in the face, can drop and be taken seriously.
4 is flooded with themes of love and chooses power ballads rather than booty songs and the chicken head anthems she’s made into an art form to push the superstar into the realm of serious music. A spare guitar is joined by a gripping bass and an emotive organ for a spare background for Beyonce to speak on the power of love on “1 + 1.” The slow smolder of the track brings echoes of Prince in construction and allows her vocals to command the track rather than the rhythm. That Minnesota slow synth groove is present on the into to “I Care.” The chorus and other parts morph to a different paced construction with cymbal clashes and soothing background vocals as Beyonce waxes on a failing relationship where shes’ giving too much.
“I Miss You” features a whispery Beyonce over a an electro funk undercurrent. Bey emits a certain vocal iciness on the lead vocals while adopting a higher pitch on the layered vocals a la Jack White on “2 against 1.”The dual layering adds flavor and is more evidence of her vocal talent. The obligatory better-of-without-your-ass anthem comes with the piano and guitar-fueled “Best Thing I Never Had.” The difference is how personal the song feels rather than the audience pandering of an “Irreplaceable.” There’s nothing catchy for people in similarly fucked up relationships to sing in the club with drink in hand. When looked on with a curious ear, certain lyrics can be construed as aimed at daddy Knowles.
This string of powerful material is undercut by the underwhelming “Party.” Despite track work by Kanye and mic work by the elusive Andre3000, the track fails to lift itself about meh. Luckily the quality returns with the slick “Rather Die Young,” a sophisticated composition that slants Beyonce’s vocal delivery and weaves it around curious basslines and dynamic instrumentation. It’s a mature song that flaunts Beyonce’s growth wonderfully. Earth Wind and Fire-like horn arrangements put the sizzling butter on that movie popcorn.
“Start Over” is throwback contemporary with Art of Noise-like elements and the hi-hat section of Stevie’s “Send One Your Love” buried under high-powered keyboard and drum patterns. The song concerns itself with a perpetuating relationship that is well past its course. The rhythm of “Love On Top” is decidedly old-school with rhythmic echoes of George Benson. Mrs. Knowles-Carter is aggressive and the backing vocals are lively and playful, dancing with the horn section.
The synth and snare drums of “Countdown” detract from the feel good, adult feel of the album, functioning as the obligatory call and response anthem. Big brass marching band aesthetic forms the base of “Till the End of Time,” with military drums and big brass doing the heavy lifting with repetitive choral construction replacing the lyricism elsewhere on the album. The bassline is similar to “Crazy In Love” and the big beat detracts from her vocals.
“I Was Here” is Beyonce’s Sinatran declaration with a desire to leave her mark in history her way. Layers of strings and a soft electric guitar are elevated by a digital drum, bringing the song to crescendo. 4 closes with “Run The World(Girls).” That’s unfortunate because “Run The World” is typical Beyonce spectacle and repeats the formula of “Diva” in taking an already proven beat and crafting a disposable song over it.
4 showcases Beyonce’s real talent. Most of this album features sophistication and musicality that she has rarely exhibited. Other parts, which were probably for her fans, are the same old Bey. The album is a declaration of independence for an artist whose career often SEEMS like it’s in the hands of others. This time she did it her way.
Out of 5
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