BEYONCÉ - Lemonade

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Hard to believe, but true. Having arrived into the 2010s with full pomp and circumstance, even the glassy, granite-faced First Lady of R&B, Beyoncé Knowles, is starting to take off part of the mask and reveal the more vulnerable side of her statuesque presence. Life doesn't always go according to plan, and as the famous saying goes, when you're handed a bucket of sour lemons, the best thing to do is squeeze them into a nice juicy lemonade.

You've surely already read it elsewhere — right now nobody's talking about anything but the Carter household's lemons; it seems her husband Jay Z is no saint, and that over the course of their decade-plus-long relationship he hasn't always been faithful, partly due to his own nature, and partly due to the temptations lurking hungrily in the music industry. Beyoncé has always kept a steady silence on the matter, but frankly the result wasn't convincing — the two seemed more like the presidential couple from "House Of Cards" than the musical version of the Obamas they're so often made out to be. Her sister Solange clearly saw it coming, after all, when she took a swing at her brother-in-law in that elevator.

Gossip can only take you so far, but right now all of the above is fueling the buzz around "Lemonade" and its accompanying film. Beyoncé is a private woman who doesn't like to flaunt what little personal life she has left, but she's also a shrewd popstar who lives by the rule of "less is more," and knows how to set the terms when she decides to indulge her audience's curiosity. She doesn't need to give tearful interviews or sell exclusive wedding photos the way so many others do; instead she reveals her thoughts directly through song, playing on the element of surprise and presenting herself wrapped in an aura of old-school soul-singer authenticity (take note, Ciara).

After all, having a "relatable" narrative does wonders for one's image — it's all in how you orchestrate it. The already iconic figure of Tina Turner takes on even greater meaning when we look at the stories of the abuse she suffered at Ike's hands and the way she managed to come out a winner. As a self-confessed Tina disciple, Beyoncé is following in her footsteps — certainly with fewer bruises on her legs and less cocaine up her nose, but still with an image baked to just the right degree to enjoy a nice glass of lemonade poolside.

Detractors might well doubt the drama is genuine, given that "Lemonade" reaches our ears after the fact is already done and dusted — Jay-Z has already been absolved, and live she's dedicating her "Halo" to him. Still, it's nice to hear the voice of a woman who — however firmly in control she remains — is learning to let the ups and downs of her mood show through more naturally, thanks to a well-crafted blend of rock anger, country lightness and soul hopefulness. With the high notes and excessive melisma of the past smoothed out, the 2016 Beyoncé comes across as relaxed and more emotional, at times almost playful and amused.

The electro influences cooked up with Boots on the previous album find their counterpart here in the clear-eyed atmospheres of "Love Draught" and "6 Inch" featuring The Weeknd — the latter a sly, "50 Shades Of Grey"-style track seasoned with a gorgeous finale. But for the rest, Queen B shows off an endless array of samples, references and male cameos that season her lemonade with pinches of both the modern and the retro, following the omnivorous bent that Black music has taken on for years now.

Granted, Beyoncé isn't as versatile as Janet Jackson, nor as inventive as latter-day Kanye West, nor as visionary as DAWN; "Lemonade" is an album of fully-formed songs that run through the various styles one by one rather than blending them together. But the performer's strong vocal presence and spirit make the whole thing sound more or less organic, so that one can confidently leap from a blast of rock guitars ("Don't Hurt Yourself" with Jack White and a sample of Led Zeppelin) to a gentle gospel-tinged piano ballad ("Sandcastles," which on the album flows into the following mini-track "Forward" sung by James Blake).

Curiously, the lead single "Formation" now comes across as the weakest of the bunch, as well as a red herring for anyone who believed "Lemonade" would be a primarily political record. It's eclipsed on its own turf by the powerful stride of "Freedom," with the inevitable guest spot from Kendrick Lamar and a 60s progressive rock sample courtesy of Kaleidoscope. Among the more successful curiosities, the bouncy "Hold Up," cooked up with contributions from Yeah Yeah Yeah's/Vampire Weekend/Diplo, and the torch song "All Night" with bonfire-side guitars.

For many, Beyoncé will still remain the Diva who takes herself too seriously, who leads a billionaire's life and backs Hillary Clinton. But even if "Lemonade" doesn't hit you in the gut the way the excellent "Beyoncé" did, the overall balance remains positive.

After fifteen successful years of a solo career (which becomes over twenty if we count her always-platinum period with Destiny's Child), Mrs Carter is finally starting to use her icon status to take a few liberties, exploring the jumble of contemporary R&B to craft a fully realized long player. She could have done a lot more if she'd wanted to, but at least her music is still moving forward, and today more than ever, Beyoncé is finally a popstar worth following. And if her sometimes haughty, slightly alienating attitude splits audiences the same way Madonna's does, then maybe Queen B really is starting to spread her wings.

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29/04/2016