Surprise! Beyonce releases new album
Beyonce has dropped a surprise "exclusive visual album" on iTunes.
Her fifth LP – called Beyonce – features a whopping 32 tracks and includes appearances by her husband Jay Z, Drake, Frank Ocean, and her daughter Blue Ivy, and every song on the album is accompanied by its own music video.
In a press release, Beyonce said: "I see music. It’s more than just what I hear. When I’m connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they’re all connected to the music."
"I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it. I am bored with that. I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans. There’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.
"I just want to give my album to the people I love and respect and hope that they feel the same thing I felt when I made the music," Beyonce said.
According to the press release, recording took place over a year and a half and began at a Hamptons retreat in the summer of 2012, and boasts collaborators that includes Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, Sia, Ryan Tedder, Miguel, Frank Ocean and Terry Richardson.
