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After days of online fan speculation and investigation (in other words, just one more week), Beyoncé used her appearance in a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday to announce that she would be releasing new music soon.
In a Verizon ad that ran shortly after halftime, Beyoncé joked with comedian Tony Hale about doing something that would “break the Internet” (i.e., Verizon’s 5G network). She played some riffs, like “Beyonc-AI,” a Barbie-like “Bar-bey,” and a presidential “BOTUS.”
He then said, “Drop out the new music,” before the commercial ended. Shortly after, Beyoncé’s website updated with the announcement that a new album, identified as “Act II”, would be released on March 29.
It appeared to be the second part of Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album project, and perhaps one with a country-rock theme, given the sound and appearance of two new songs. “Texas Hold’em” and “16 wagons” which quickly appeared online.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” begins with a quickly plucked guitar and moves into a strong beat, with Beyoncé rhyming “Texas” and “Lexus” and singing lines like “It’s a real live boogie and a real live hoedown.” On “16 Carriages,” an epic ballad, guitars are enriched by organ percussion as Beyoncé sings about looking back on a life after losing innocence “at a young age.”
The images of both show Beyoncé wearing cowboy hats, a feature of last year’s Renaissance World Tour and Beyoncé’s continuing style signature, as seen last week at the grammy awards.
As with the first “Renaissance,” the announcement of the new album represents something of a shift in communication for Beyoncé. She released her 2013 album, “Beyoncé,” without warning, instantly capturing worldwide attention and sparking a music industry craze for surprise drops. Her follow-up, “Lemonade,” in 2016, was teased for a Super Bowl appearance, but still made an instant splash. In the “Renaissance” era, Beyoncé’s reveals have looked more like conventional advertisements.
When Beyoncé performed “Renaissance” in July 2022, published a statement on Instagram that explained that it was simply the first part of a “three-act project” he recorded during the pandemic. She referred to that album as “Act I” and described it as “a place to dream and find escape during a terrifying time for the world.” That album, with a retro ’90s dance track, went to number one and was the centerpiece of her tour last year, which sold out $580 million in ticketsaccording to trade publication Pollstar, second only to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
Beyoncé dabbled in country music on “Daddy Lessons” from her 2016 album “Lemonade,” and a remix featured the Chicks. She teamed up with the Nashville group for a performance at the Country Music Association Awards in November, which received a mixed reception from country fans online but was vigorously defended by the singer’s loyal fans.