Beyonce Finally Announces ‘Renaissance,’ Her Long-Awaited New Album

A few days ago, Beyonce removed the profile pictures from her social media accounts, which many took as a sign that some major news, perhaps of a long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s Lemonade, was on the way. Indeed, fans are getting what they hoped for: Late last night, Tidal announced Renaissance, a new album from Beyonce.

The image Tidal shared indicates that “Act I” of Renaissance is coming on July 29. Beyonce’s social media profiles have also been updated to indicate the release date. Two possibilities here are that either Beyonce plans to release additional installments of or sequels to Renaissance after the initial drop, or that the project is being split into multiple parts, so just one part of it is coming out on the 29th.

Pre-orders for multiple editions of a box set for the album are available now, but they do not show the album art or tracklist, nor has that information been shared elsewhere.

In an August 2021 interview, Beyonce said (and even used the word “renaissance”) of working on new music, “With all the isolation and injustice over the past year, I think we are all ready to escape, travel, love, and laugh again. I feel a renaissance emerging, and I want to be part of nurturing that escape in any way possible. I’ve been in the studio for a year and a half. Sometimes it takes a year for me to personally search through thousands of sounds to find just the right kick or snare. One chorus can have up to 200 stacked harmonies. Still, there’s nothing like the amount of love, passion, and healing that I feel in the recording studio. After 31 years, it feels just as exciting as it did when I was nine years old. Yes, the music is coming!”

Renaissance is out 7/29. Pre-order it here.