Unique, strong, and sexy—that’s how Beyoncé wants you to feel while listening to RENAISSANCE. Crafted during the grips of the pandemic, her seventh solo album is a celebration of freedom and a complete immersion into house and dance that serves as the perfect sound bed for themes of liberation, release, self-assuredness, and unfiltered confidence across its 16 tracks. RENAISSANCE is playful and energetic in a way that captures that Friday-night, just-got-paid, anything-can-happen feeling, underscored by reiterated appeals to unyoke yourself from the weight of others’ expectations and revel in the totality of who you are.

“”Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world,” says Bey. “It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration,” said Beyonce about her intentions for the album.

From the classic four-on-the-floor house moods of the Robin S.- and Big Freedia-sampling lead single “BREAK MY SOUL” to the Afro-tech of the Grace Jones- and Tems-assisted “MOVE” and the funky, roller-skating disco feeling of “CUFF IT,” this is a massive yet elegantly composed buffet of sound, richly packed with anthemic morsels that pull you in.

There are soft moments here, too: “I know you can’t help but to be yourself around me,” she coos on “PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA,” the kind of warm, whispers-in-the-ear love song you’d expect to hear at a summer cookout—complete with an intricate interplay between vocals and guitar that gives Beyoncé a chance to showcase some incredible vocal dexterity. “CHURCH GIRL” fuses R&B, gospel, and hip-hop to tell a survivor’s story: “I'm finally on the other side/I finally found the extra smiles/Swimming through the oceans of tears we cried.”

An explicit celebration of Blackness, “COZY” is the mantra of a woman who has nothing to prove to anyone—“Comfortable in my skin/Cozy with who I am,” ” Beyoncé muses on the chorus. And on “PURE/HONEY,” Beyoncé immerses herself in ballroom culture, incorporating drag performance chants and a Kevin Aviance sample on the first half that give way to the disco-drenched second half, cementing the song as an immediate dance-floor favorite. It’s the perfect lead-in to the album closer “SUMMER RENAISSANCE,” which propels the dreamy escapist disco of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” even further into the future.

Giving the people something different, the Houston born entertainer calls her first album in six years her most ambitious musical project yet. Released on July 29th, the album features sixteen songs. Fans are already calling it the dance part mix of the summer. Fans have missed club hopping and dancing all night. So Queen B gave them something to move their body. There is a little disco and a little techno as she drew from the Black and Latinx ballroom scene. This dance mix is high energy from start-to-finish.

Family is super important to her. In her thank you message on the album, she thanks her children, husband, and her late “Godmother” Uncle Jonny in the 28-page book accompanying the album. In their own way, all served as her personal muse. In addition, she shows appreciation to all the producers, crews, and others involved in her creative process.

Renaissance was Beyonce’s great escape from a scary time that the pandemic created across the world and is part of a three act project. Release dates for acts II and III have not been revealed yet. Just know it’s coming and it will be hot.