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After perhaps hinting at a move into country with her outfit at the Grammy Awards last week, Beyoncé announced what appears to be a full on country-inspired project, Renaissance Act II, during the Super Bowl LVIII game with a surprise commercial and a teaser clip posted to her Instagram.
She immediately released two new singles; ‘Texas Hold ’Em’ is available on all streaming platforms and ‘16 Carriages’ is only available on Tidal and YouTube.
While the album news came as a surprise, Verizon had hinted earlier in the week that a something from the singer was imminent, and the commercial showed Beyoncé attempting to “break” Verizon's 5G feature. After a string of failed attempts – including opening up a lemonade stand, playing saxophone, introducing a Beyoncé AI character, launching into space, running for president and dressing as a Barbie styled "BarBey" – the singer eventually ended the clip by saying, “Okay they ready, Drop the new music.”
Watch the Verizon commercial below.
The teaser clip that followed on Instagram soon after features a taxi with a Texas number plate reading “HOLD EM” being driven through the desert with the radio being tuned between different stations playing Charles Anderson’s ‘Laughing Yodel,’ ‘Grinnin’ In Your Face’ by Son House, and Chuck Berry’s ‘Maybellene’ before landing on Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ as the car drives past a scene of men – one wearing a red baseball cap - looking bemusedly up at a giant billboard featuring Beyoncé waving in a cowboy hat, bikini and cowboy boots and the words “Texas! Hold ’Em” on it.
Watch the Part II teaser clip below.
Her eighth studio album, which serves as the second instalment of her three-part Renaissance project, will be released on 29th March and by the sounds of the two singles so far, it’s going to pick up where ‘Daddy Lessons’ picked off and see the Texas singer take a hard turn into country.
‘Texas Hold ’Em’ features instrumental contributions from Rhiannon Giddens playing banjo and viola, while ‘16 Carriages’ features the black roots musician Robert Randolph, as one of two credited steel players, indicating that the project could lean hard into reclaiming the black origins of country music.
Watch the Offical Visualizer for 'Texas Hold 'Em' below.
Watch the Offical Visualizer for '16 Carriages' below.
Renaissance Act II will be released on 29th March 2024. For more news on Beyoncé see below.
