Famous artists such Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have recently released brand new albums, kickstarting an exciting year for the music industry. While Swift took the world by storm when she announced the release date of her brand-new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” during the 2024 Grammy’s, Beyoncé took a different route. Beyoncé used the high viewer count of the 2024 Super Bowl to announce her new album, “Cowboy Carter.”
Beyoncé’s newest album, released on March 29, 2024, marks a new era for the famous singer. “Cowboy Carter” features Beyoncé returning to her roots as she makes a remarkable entrance into the country music industry.
The new album features notable covers of “Blackbird” by Paul McCartney, “Oh Louisiana” by Chuck Berry and “Jolene” by Dolly Parton. Beyoncé’s cover of “Jolene” received overwhelmingly positive feedback, as the artist provided a new perspective to the beloved country classic. Instead of begging the titular Jolene to not steal her man, Beyoncé’s narrator is instead warning Jolene away, saying “I’m warning you, don’t come for my man.” “Cowboy Carter” not only showed the range of Beyoncé’s talent but also earned the top spot-on Billboard’s top 200 country albums.
Julia Brantley (12) listened to Beyoncé’s new album and enjoyed the new style.
“It was a refreshing album; it brought a new avenue for Beyonce’s music and for some of the songs she covered. I know this album is controversial, but I think that Beyoncé has given more power to women and minorities in music. She was the first African American woman to hold the number one song in country,” Brantley said. “She is an inspiration to people around the globe, and this album shows that artists can succeed through growth in their music.”
Swift’s much anticipated album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” was announced during her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album, which Swift won for her album “Midnights.” “The Tortured Poets Department” has been categorized as “Synth-Pop” by Apple Music and originally contained 16 songs, two of which are collaborations with singer/songwriter Post Malone and the band Florence and the Machine.
Cassidy Scherer (12) is a longtime fan of Swift and has seen her multiple times in concert.
“I personally love it. I think her marketing of the album was smart and the album itself is written very well,” Scherer said. “My favorite song currently is ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart,’ because it gives fans a connection to her personal life as well as being very easy to relate to,” Scherer said.
Shortly after the release for her new album, Swift announced that an extended version of the album, containing over 30 new songs, would be released on April 19, at 2 am, Eastern Time. The most popular songs so far include “Fortnight,” “Florida,“ “Down Bad” and “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.” The album focuses on the end of Swift’s relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn and her quick relationship with Matt Healy, the lead vocalist for the indie-pop band The 1975.
Ace Johnson (11) listened to the new album and appreciated the similarities it has to her past albums.
“I like Taylor Swift’s new album quite a lot; my favorite song is probably the ‘Albatross,’” Johnson said. “I think this album is similar to her past albums ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore,’ and brings back some of her style of personal songs about her specific experiences, while adding some newer elements of her style. I think it’s one of her better albums.”
Both Beyoncé and Swift’s new albums mark a new era for the music industry and more and more artists announce soon-to-be released albums featuring various new sounds, such as Billie Eilish, Willie Nelson and Dua Lipa.
