Beyoncé Cowboy Carter, ACT 11 (CD, Ltd.)

(Parkwood Entertainment) 23 tracks, limited Snake FaceEdition, incl. 8p poster booklet

It's Country Time

The announcement of Beyoncé's new "country" album "Cowboy Carter" has already sent her fans, the press and basically the entire music world into an uproar.

The work is the second part of a revolutionary trilogy that the multi-talented artist has been working on for the past five years. Originally, this musical excursion to the black roots of country music should have formed the first act. However, after the difficult years of the pandemic, Beyoncé quickly preferred the uplifting "Renaissance" because "people should dance again".

But now it's country time! "Cowboy Carter" is structured like a long program on the fictional station KNTRY Radio. Between the songs, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Linda Martell act as DJs and make entertaining announcements. Other notable collaborators on the album include Miley Cyrus, Stevie Wonder, Post Malone, Nile Rodgers and Rhiannon Giddens.

With the first single "Texas Hold 'Em", Beyoncé achieved the historic success of being the first black female artist ever to reach the top of the country single charts in the USA. The country-pop song was surprisingly released during the Super Bowl and immediately broke various sales records.

A total of 27 tracks between pop, country, R&B and soul can be found on "Cowboy Carter". These include the additional single "16 Carriages" and cover versions of "Blackbird" (The Beatles) and "Jolene", the female country anthem of all time, originally by Dolly Parton.

Beyoncé is already the most awarded female artist of her generation, with an incredible 32 Grammy Awards to her name alone. There are sure to be more awards to come for "Cowboy Carter", this groundbreaking masterpiece.