★★★★★ Beyoncé worked with so many people on ‘Lemonade’, her sixth album which she dropped in late April with an accompanying short fi lm, that its credits run to 3,105 words. It’s a testament to her star power that none of her collaborators blabbed before the surprise album release – Bey’s second in a row after her 2013 self-titled LP. But it’s also a testament to her star quality that despite the many, many cooks in this kitchen, ‘Lemonade’ feels like an album only Beyoncé could make. ‘Lemonade’ is officially billed as ‘a conceptual project based on every woman’s journey of self knowledge and healing’, but the narrative is really one of marital infi delity. ‘How did it come down to this? Going through your call list,’ she sings on the deceptively breezy reggae bounce of ‘Hold Up’, before issuing what sounds like an ultimatum on the brilliant, Jack White-assisted rock stomper ‘Don’t Hurt Yourself’: ‘If you try this shit again / You gon’ lose your wife.’ The electro blips of ‘Sorry’ feature another killer couplet: ‘He only want me when I’m not there / He better call Becky with the good hair.’ Beyoncé stops short of singing ‘My sister Solange appeared to attack you in a lift after the Met Gala in 2014’, but this is still startling stuff which must be tough for Jay Z (who appears in the short film) to listen to. As the story progresses from rage to reconciliation, ‘Lemonade’ continues to thrill musically. Bey teams with The Weeknd for ‘6 Inch’, a kind of strip club update of
Lady Gaga's long-awaited third album is largely a tribute to the old masters. Not of art, but of pop (though 'Artpop' evidently doesn't split hairs over the difference). Here, rather than beating an entirely new drum, Gaga is tipping her meat hat to a line-up of previous greats.
But her Ladyship didn't earn her worldwide superstar status through mere pastiche. The basic elements might not be new, but the triumph of 'Artpop' is that it mixes its palette of influences in such entertaining ways. Madonna and Bowie are the constant inspirations: from the 'Holiday'-aping 'Fashion!' to the cosmic pansexual playfulness of 'GUY' There are plenty of dance bangers, of course, but thankfully Gaga has mined their beats from the golden era of French house - Justice's synths, for example, are all over tracks including the teasingly tipsy 'Sexxx Dreams'.
The low points in 'Artpop' come when the Lady loses faith in her own-brand nostalgia: the world music silliness of 'Gypsy' is almost slayed by its ugly chart-dance excesses, while 'Jewels N' Drugs' is an embarrassing attempt at trap music. Overall, however, this excellent if slightly sprawling LP reminds us how much Lady Gaga knows about classic hooks, high camp and huge choruses.