Within hours of the world learning that new music from Beyoncé is just around the corner, the singer appeared on the cover of British Vogue for a piece teasing what fans can expect from Renaissance, which is due out on July 29. The singer’s seventh studio album and first proper solo album since 2016’s acclaimed Lemonade is described as another era-defining work that was hatched during the long COVID lockdown.
The preview version of the piece by editor-in-chief Edward Enninful describes the album as having “soaring vocals and fierce beats,” as well as the expected intensity born of a long, COVID-impacted period in which the legendarily detail-oriented star was “thinking and rethinking” every single detail.
The singer sits astride a horse on a dance floor while wearing a floor-length black gown and radiating feather-y headdress on the magazine’s cover. In other shots, she models a series of futuristic looks, including another impressive headpiece worn over towering glittery boots and silver pants as she balances atop a gigantic disco ball, a billowing golden coat with an exaggerated collar and planet-like earrings and a studded leather jacket from Junya Watanabe that makes her look like she’s become one with a motorcycle.
And while the preview doesn’t divulge much about what to expect from Renaissance — which the writer describes as “her most ambitious musical project to date” — it does pull the curtain back a bit on Bey’s home life via a chill Sunday night dinner at the Los Angeles-area home she shares with husband Jay-Z and their 3 children. The whole gang come to surprise her on the set of the shoot and two days later they are there again for a family dinner in the couple’s “impressively minimalist” home with “acres of white walls, gleaming glass and beautiful art” for a meal of ribs, cream corn, peas and mashed potatoes.
“New music is coming — a thrilling abundance of it,” Bey told Enninful after teasing on her socials on Wednesday that she was prepping “act i.” Apple Music’s pre-add function reveals the project will consist of 16 tracks. The Beyhive can already swarm around a Renaissance box set on the singer’s site, with pre-order links for a version that includes a CD, t-shirt, mini-poster and 28-page photo booklet.
In the years since Lemonade, Bey dropped a joint album with Jay, 2018’s Everything Is Love, the soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift, and 2019’s Homecoming: The Live Album, followed by the single “Be Alive,” lifted from the Oscar winning film King Richard. She also made a Grammy-winning appearance on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage.”
The issue of British Vogue will hit newsstands and be available via digital download on June 21. Check out some pics from the shoot below.
.@Beyonce is poised for her next evolution, one that promises vision, grace – and something a little bit extra… In the July 2022 issue of British Vogue, @Edward_Enninful meets a superstar, as Rafael Pavarotti captures the moment: https://t.co/pMpRP09hop pic.twitter.com/v523Q3Eb6x
— British Vogue (@BritishVogue) June 16, 2022
How he ensures Beyoncé always looks like she “fell into good light”. https://t.co/9uWQ3l4YsX
— British Vogue (@BritishVogue) June 16, 2022
“I was literally speechless,” says the 26-year-old designer of being asked to create pieces for his icon to wear on her British Vogue cover. https://t.co/BYzxiXZO8S
— British Vogue (@BritishVogue) June 16, 2022
.@Beyonce has been at the top of her game for almost three decades, revolutionising the music industry tenfold. And she’s not slowing down anytime soon: https://t.co/NPQuaatSYW pic.twitter.com/iaC3R9OGJT
— British Vogue (@BritishVogue) June 16, 2022
