More Adventurous: Albums to Listen #2 (Beyoncé, Stateside, & More)
Albums that I’m listening to the week of April 1, 2024.
While I was nursing myself back to health after getting kicked in the head at a hardcore show on Thursday night, I went to go look at the new releases for Friday, and one artist stood above the others. Of course, there were some albums from the rock world that seemed like they’d be up my alley, and they didn’t compete with the big pop album dropping on Friday.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter has obviously dominated the new music conversation, and rightfully so. It’s a damn good record. Here are some thoughts on that as well as the other albums that I’ve been exploring.
Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
In 2016, Beyoncé put out the album that may end up defining her career. Lemonade is a powerful statement on love, betrayal, and forgiveness. She also reinforced herself as the Queen of pop, R&B, and the charts. While she wasn’t silent for the six years between Lemonade and Renaissance (she and Jay-Z dropped Everything is Love as The Carters in 2018 and she helmed the soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift in 2019, plus tours and her live album), the public was thirsty for something new when Renaissance dropped in 2022.
Unfortunately, Bey’s takes on house and dance music didn’t connect with me in the way that Lemonade or her self-titled albums did. I gave it a fair shake, but ultimately, it wasn’t for me. Now, less than two years after that album, Beyoncé is back with Cowboy Carter, a record that has been dubbed a country album by the general public, but that Queen B swears forgoes genre. It’s very easy to see both sides of that argument.
Country music never goes away, but it does have its moments where a pop music audience will fall in love with the genre or indieheads will fall in line with a rootsier artist. Taylor Swift’s initial rise to fame (pre-1989) comes to mind. Those circles have seemingly overlapped in the last few years with the rise of artists like Zach Bryan. It will not be a surprise to see a wave of major (and minor) popstars taking a turn into country.
While it could be argued that perhaps Beyoncé is just ahead of the curve and cashing in on the resurgence, this does feel like a truly inventive country album. While there are touches of the genre, she does seem to be playing with sound in a way that your typical singer-songwriter at the CMAs would play. The album has a warm production, and she doesn’t shy away from going weird, fusing other elements of pop, gospel, and soul throughout the predominantly country record.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Doom and Groove to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.