The Best Tracks on “Lemonade”

Last weekend, Beyoncé released her sixth album “Lemonade” on HBO. Here are some of the tracks that stuck out.

Martina Pansze, A&E Editor

She’s done it again, folks. Last weekend, Beyoncé released her sixth album, “Lemonade,” on HBO, accompanied by a video and featuring James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, and The Weeknd. “Lemonade” is far more instrumental than her previous albums, and, instead of just dabbling in other genres, she scoops them up and mixes them into her own unique sound, borrowing heavily from reggae, rock, and even country. Each song in “Lemonade” has a unique personality, but the tracks are bound together by the emotion and honesty that her last album lacked. Here are some of the tracks that stuck out, in no particular order.

Hold Up

Flavorful and unhurried, this song has a strong reggae feel. “Hold Up” is not the first time Beyoncé has played around with Jamaican sound, but this time she throws herself into it entirely. She sings in a lower key than usual, and the result is a fun, summery groove. While “Hold Up” may be lighter sonically, however, lyrically it is just as cutting as “Sandcastles.”

6 Inch (feat. The Weeknd)

This track doesn’t quite have the emotional charge of the rest of the album, but it’s the extremely catchy song that fans expect. “6 Inch” has the sound of a prototypical song by The Weeknd, but it highlights Beyoncé’s impressive vocal range nicely. I predict that this song will be played at every frat party you attend for the next eight months, and you absolutely will have Beyoncé’s drawling “God damnnnnn” line stuck in your head constantly. That being said, it’s great.

Sandcastles

Reminiscent of “If I Were A Boy” from way back in 2008, “Sandcastles” is a ballad mourning a love gone wrong (and making Jay-Z the subject of widespread speculations of infidelity). Backed by only a piano, Beyoncé croons lyrics like “What is it about you that I can’t erase?” Slower and softer than its companions, “Sandcastles” is the most candid and emotional song on the album.

Formation

There’s not a lot new that I can say about “Formation” except that it fits into “Lemonade” well. Based on “Formation,” which was the call-to-action single released over two months ago, I expected “Lemonade” to be more politicized, but it turns out “Formation” is an outlier—or rather, a facet—that compliments the album but is not the focus.

Daddy Lessons

This song features heavy horns, clapping, and a full-on bluegrass sound complete with bluegrass-influenced “Yee-haws”—and she does it well. This is another personal song, talking about the lessons her Texan father taught her as a child. However, it’s far from sad. This song sounds like you and Beyoncé are square dancing at a barn dance together. It’s a good place to be.