Beyonce To Go Indie On Next Album?

Published: Sunday 29th Nov 2009 by Trent
sasha-fierce-in-elle-magazine

R&B force Beyonce was recently interviewed by The Observer’s Caspar Llewellyn Smith where she answered questions concerning a myriad of topics. Amongst the items discussed, the entertainer spoke about the possible direction of her next studio project. Peep an excerpt from the interview below:

Is there anyone left you’d still like to record with?

Oh, where do I begin? There’s so many people I’d like to work with still, but I’d like to maybe go outside of the box. My sister [Solange] has put me on to bands like [indie group] Of Montreal and some other different types of artists. I would love to do something like that on my next album. {Source}

To say that I didn’t expect this would be a blatant lie. Beyonce is one of the few artists who always manage to revamp their appeal with each record; capturing the attention of new audiences with each LP. Undoubtedly, she has the voice to adapt to almost any arrangement, hence further experimentation with acoustic instruments would be a  more than manageable feat for her. If the productions sound anything like ‘Disappear’, ‘Irreplaceable’, ‘Satellites’ or ‘Stop Sign’, I would be all ears.

Sam Edit: Hmm…I’m all for artistic experimentation, however some of the slower/stripped-back offerings on ‘I Am…Sasha Fierce’ are among the most boring material Bouncy has ever recorded IMO (2nd only to the added tracks on the ‘B’Day’ re-release). If there’s one thing Ms. Knowles-Carter has established since the start of her career, it’s the epic, grandeur that accompanies her songs (see: ‘Halo’, ‘Listen’, ‘Dangerously In Love’, as well as most of her upbeat cuts). I’d much prefer a building on that, instead of a potentially contrived take on Indie music.

Thoughts?

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  1. Kay-T November 29, 2009

    Whateva she sings I will buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. Jenee November 29, 2009

    I’m sure she’d be able to pull it off; besides, it would be a welcome change from what we’re all so used to from her (not necessarily in a bad way, though; you have to keep growing as an artist).

  3. Pinkpop November 29, 2009

    please don’t take this too serious…. it’s so much time ahead before we will hear new songs… and remember what plans we heard before the I AM came out.

  4. Me.Me. November 29, 2009

    She knows what she’s doin.

  5. Dawon November 29, 2009

    She might have 1 or 2 songs that might venture in the direction of Indie music but she won’t do a whole album like that! Beyonce is to clever and cares to much about her fans to do that. Just like on I AM…SASHA Fierce she was only going to release the “Beyonce” side but she knows what her fans want and gave us SASHA to. BRING IT ON BEY I CANT WAIT!!!!!

  6. Kirk November 29, 2009

    I love that picture.

    Anyway, I live for Disappear. Her best song on the Beyonce side IMO.Beyonce is guaranteed to sound good on anything. She’s very versatile when it comes to music. I’m still waiting on my jazz album though.

  7. no tea, no shade November 29, 2009

    ….GIRL.

  8. HJNJ November 29, 2009

    Beyonce can do anything she wants and I will buy it!

  9. Michael Graham November 29, 2009

    I’d buy Beyonce singing the telephone book, she’s that good in my opinion!!!

    Also won World’s Greatest Popstar as voted for by the public today on T4!

  10. no tea, no shade November 29, 2009

    Beyonce stans are so sad.. The only group that they rival in stupidity is Britney Spears stans.. SMDH

  11. Travis November 29, 2009

    No Tea, No Shade: Go away. If you dont like her or like the topic, keep it moving

    Anyways, I think this will be a good look for her and possibly a welcomed change for her fans. She’ll gain more fans wih this direction. As long as she puts some classic up beat cuts on the album i’ll be fine.

  12. parisian girl November 29, 2009

    @No tea no shade:b*tch please get a life!!

  13. What happened to GOOD music? November 29, 2009

    I thought the question was “what other artists would you like to work with?” her answer was “WHO SHE WANTS TO SOUND LIKE…that doesn’t make any sense? I didn’t see her say she wanted to collab with anyone…she said her sister solange put her on to other artists that she will want to do something LIKE them? is that original to you? If that’s the case I will listen to the artists she’s trying to sound like! Bey, Im a fan, but stop proving all the people who say you are “UNORIGINAL” right. Do something YOU created, not something SOMEONE ELSE created. That makes you UNORIGINAL. Stop painting over another Artists canvas.

  14. no tea, no shade November 29, 2009

    …. And beyonce stans can’t read either.. I don’t remember saying I didn’t like her or the topic.. again SMDH

  15. What happened to GOOD music? November 29, 2009

    classic album: Dangerously in love…WE WANT THAT BUT THE 2010 VERSION PLEASE!!! =]

  16. 12345 November 29, 2009

    I feel sad for the gays, no uptempo /club banger songs = no beyonce naked dancing on the videos = no coreography stolen from other artists = no coreography = gays crying because if beyonce doesnt dance they wont be able to copy her moves, ah!

  17. anonymouss November 29, 2009

    i want a rock/soul album. if anybody can do it right, she can.

  18. Chile November 29, 2009

    Sam, you’re addition to the post was not cute. Can you let Trent post freely? Was this post not negative enough for you or something?

  19. Lily November 29, 2009

    I’m kind of Beyonce’d out. I love Bey, but I’m getting tired of seeing her.

  20. oh no she didn’t November 29, 2009

    With this next ablum since she will be working on I would hope that she is pregnant so that maybe her direction would kind of be more toward the DIL so we could get a sense of more ballets or love songs maybe like her songs,yes,dil,roc,resentment,irresplaceable,poision and i know that if she is pregnant we might just get another stellar classic DIL but whatever I’m sure it would be great.

  21. Prince November 29, 2009

    Queen Bey does not need a baby right now! She got 2 much on her agenda 4 a baby! I love Queen Bey but i dont think she need a baby by Jay Z.She need a baby by Trey Songz! I want a futuristic pop/rock/r&b album from her!

  22. doble November 29, 2009

    she always says she wants to experiment more, but we all know she always goes back to what she knows best: ass-shaking music a la single ladies & crazy in love.

  23. Fatima November 29, 2009

    Oh my god Sam is so stupid. Thanks to Trent for actually looking at this from an angle that isn’t one completely intent on making R&B as generic as possible (see his love of Mario.) Beyonce really surprised me with tracks like “That’s Why You’re Beautiful” and “Disappear” on the last album. They didn’t fit the R&B genre at all and some of the effect she tried on the latter where damn near Bjorkish. However, the majority of R&B fans appeared as closeminded as usual and ate up tracks full of suffocating bombast like “Broken-Hearted Girl” instead, proving to me that Beyonce is actually musically ahead of the same folks who accuse her of predictability.

    Solange has really opened her mind up a lot and I would love to see Of Montreal influence her on the next LP. They’re some of the most frantic and creatively unbridled artists in the business. The fact that very few probably know who they are speaks volumes about the state of R&B. So many of you want regression or for artists to keep putting out the same album over and over again. I really hope Beyonce follows up on this idea on at least a few tracks. And while the dumb-ass R&B audience will freak out and criticize her, more and more people from the “mainstream” press will start to realize how talented she could really be if only people would get off her nuts. Make of that what you will.

  24. Anon November 29, 2009

    Trent, indie does not equal ballad. They’re are plenty of indie artists that are cranking out uptempo music (Santigold, HEAVy, Black Blondie, Little Dragon, Georgia Anne Muldrew). Indie doesn’t even mean stripped down. To me, indie mean artists without major deals and distribution that make music for themselves and their fans without regard to what radio programmers think. I doubt seriously that Beyonce would jump into the indie sound with two feet. More likely, she would work with indie artists to incorporate some of their sounds and textures into her music. This girl lives for radio play, so it won’t be a radical departure from her previous work – just an evolution. Honestly though, I wish she would take 2-3 years off and do some acting or movie producing. I’m tired of hearing her.

  25. Trevez November 29, 2009

    Anything that Beysus will come out with I would buy. However like someone said its too ahead of time to believe what she said will be set in stone. Remember when she said that “I Am” was going to be nothing but dance-influenced music and she switched it up.

  26. oh no she didn’t November 29, 2009

    Beyonce might have a little too much on her agenda right now, but if by chance she does get pregnant it won’t be a bad thing for her she will be able to relax and take a needed 2 to 3 year break and come back with a true sound and ready to do what she does best. This will give the public a chance to miss good music and her. This will ready let all her peers know she is the best and will be the best because then the public will see that true talent is on break for 2 to3 years.and will be ready to embrace her dearly

  27. mark November 30, 2009

    of montreal doesn’t make music like “i am…”
    they don’t make “slow/stripped back” music. they sound like they s*** glitter.
    it’s fun and you can dance to it. if she makes music that sounds experimental and we can dance to it i will not have any complaints. it’ll be awesome.

  28. 12345 November 30, 2009

    it depends of what Indie she wants, Indie can mean Indie Rock ( The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, The Raconteurs, Spoon, The White Stripes, The Kooks, Bloc Party…) or Indie as a diminutive for independent, in arts it means productions with no major labels whatsoever, so if she means that, i think she is saying that it wont be mainstream music. R&B fans, get some knowledge.
    As for my opinion, I just wish she would disappear, work can be like alcohol or drugs you know, and it is not healthy

  29. Rika November 30, 2009

    I agree w/Sam on this one 100%…to be featured on an indie artist’s track could work and would be interesting…but Beyonce’s upbeat tempos and more soulful songs are what make her really shine and for her albums I think it would be better for her to stick to that

  30. dillpickle November 30, 2009

    I don’t see Beyonce taking the indie route….she is not creative enough for that.

  31. smartee November 30, 2009

    I really don’t understand why so many Beyonce praisers are looking forward to this album. It’s okay to be a fan, but I get a feeling that many people hype her up more than they should. Beyonce has made some of the most bubblegum/ghetto songs that I have ever heard from a female singer. She can actually sing and move, but her voice is annoying and is either too high and young or too deep and odd and her dancing is only moving. That’s all she does is gyrate/shake, and bounce her a**. I don’t get it, why do people act like she’s such a great talent? She’s all image and that aint right. What you guys love about her, is her image. If she wasn’t shaking her funky a** and wasn’t selling s** and being “s***” onstage, she would flop hard. All of her ballads and slower tempo songs suck and just about all of them have failed on the charts.

  32. TYler November 30, 2009

    I agree with Sam. She’s incapable of making that kind of material work, since the woman has never met a melody she didn’t oversing with bombast. She would need to unlearn everythying that has made her who she is to do that. I don’t think she can.

  33. brandi November 30, 2009

    she needs to get back to music like she did on dangerously in love. i’m sorry but i am sasha fierce was terrible. she’s 28 talking about video phones? seriously.

  34. Dwaynefighter December 1, 2009

    Sam, I completely agree with you. The “I Am…” side to that Sasha Fierce disc was one of the most boring discs released last year. And unlike most of you here, I bought at least 40 albums in 2008, so I think i’m in a position to safely say that.
    The “Sasha Fierce” side was fun, but it lacks depth, and there were still some skip-worthy songs there, too.
    Beyonce has a nice enough voice, and she’s a very interesting entertainer, but indie music?? come the f*** on! then again, i’d love for her to do such a disc- the bad reviews would do me well with a laugh! Stick to flipping your hair and shaking your booty, Beyonce- leave actual emoting to those who can.

  35. Wanna B. Rapper March 25, 2010

    I think this is a bad idea. Beyonce is really smart but she would probably loose listeners like me. Honestly Beyonce is my favorite singer ever and is really talented but this indie rock thing I don’t think will turn out that well. I just hope she will prove me wrong.

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