Beyoncé's new song "XO" contains six seconds of audio sample from the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and the move has sparked a controversy and heavily criticized by the families of the lost crew, NASA, and the media. At issue is whether the song is a tribute to those who have lost someone special in their lives, or whether the track is just another pop love song. The video features Beyoncé visiting an amusement park, but Beyoncé herself has reportedly suggested that the song has deeper themes and saying that the song "was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones," and that the sample was included as a tribute to the Challenger crew.
As the dual lead contemporary hit radio single along with "Drunk In Love" from her surprise new self-titled fifth studio 'visual' album, "XO" is a mid-tempo pop love power ballad and built on jittery keyboards, synthesizers, looped organ riff and electronic flourishes. This rousing Pop ballad finds Beyoncé reuniting with previous collaborators Ryan Tedder and The-Dream. Beyoncé uses her "subtly exhausted" low register while growling the lines "Baby love me, lights out." This radio-ready anthem on the entire album was reminiscent to Beyoncé's own 2008 power ballad "Halo" with a celebratory, bumping Caribbean groove and influences of Jamaican singer Tanya Stephens.
Upon its release, "XO" received positive reviews from music critics as a "buoyant celebration of love and life." Pitchfork Media praised the uplifting pop song's "big, boundary-obliterating" pop appeal that "demands to be projected onto the sky, like the aural equivalent of a firework" further praising the 32-year-old Beyoncé's vocal performance with her lower register concluding that "all of the flawlessness here is brilliantly undercut by that gravelly croak."
Beyoncé spreading the love and enjoys a day at Coney Island in her feel-good carefree, neon-drenched clip, which was directed by Terry Richardson. As she driving bumper cars and riding the Cyclone roller coaster while wearing a Biggie Smalls tee at the Brooklyn amusement park, where she also played video games, danced on the skee-ball lanes, and hugged and kissed the fans who clamored around her. In one point, she leads a sea of people in putting up their arms in "X" and "O" formations, which may be her version of the "YMCA" dance. It's almost too perfect clip for a likewise song in a way that's sweet if not exactly original, and shows Beyoncé at her most flippant, casual best!
As the dual lead contemporary hit radio single along with "Drunk In Love" from her surprise new self-titled fifth studio 'visual' album, "XO" is a mid-tempo pop love power ballad and built on jittery keyboards, synthesizers, looped organ riff and electronic flourishes. This rousing Pop ballad finds Beyoncé reuniting with previous collaborators Ryan Tedder and The-Dream. Beyoncé uses her "subtly exhausted" low register while growling the lines "Baby love me, lights out." This radio-ready anthem on the entire album was reminiscent to Beyoncé's own 2008 power ballad "Halo" with a celebratory, bumping Caribbean groove and influences of Jamaican singer Tanya Stephens.
Upon its release, "XO" received positive reviews from music critics as a "buoyant celebration of love and life." Pitchfork Media praised the uplifting pop song's "big, boundary-obliterating" pop appeal that "demands to be projected onto the sky, like the aural equivalent of a firework" further praising the 32-year-old Beyoncé's vocal performance with her lower register concluding that "all of the flawlessness here is brilliantly undercut by that gravelly croak."
Beyoncé spreading the love and enjoys a day at Coney Island in her feel-good carefree, neon-drenched clip, which was directed by Terry Richardson. As she driving bumper cars and riding the Cyclone roller coaster while wearing a Biggie Smalls tee at the Brooklyn amusement park, where she also played video games, danced on the skee-ball lanes, and hugged and kissed the fans who clamored around her. In one point, she leads a sea of people in putting up their arms in "X" and "O" formations, which may be her version of the "YMCA" dance. It's almost too perfect clip for a likewise song in a way that's sweet if not exactly original, and shows Beyoncé at her most flippant, casual best!
0 comments