Let’s clear one thing up about Cowboy Carter first. It is not a country album. Sure it’s got skits with Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, and yes it features guest spots by actual country singers such as Brittney Spencer, Linda Martell, Willie Jones (admittedly I just looked those last 2 up) and Miley Cyrus (is she still country?) and there’s even a fierce cover of ‘Jolene’, but country is just one genre represented in a very broad palette here. If there were any major influences to be picked out here, it would have to be film adaptations of Broadway musicals. In fact I’d go so far as to say this feels like a musical, with Beyoncé as the star and the above simply the supporting cast. It even feels like there’s a chorus line bringing up the rear.
I can clearly visualise each scene and the influence of folk ballads adds to the cinematic nature of the songs. Beyoncé is a great storyteller, and her vocal range is seriously impressive as her singing style switches as much as the rest of the music, though she never stops being Beyoncé and the album feels cohesive. At least I think it does, it certainly did til about half way through, during which time I was about ready to hail Beyonce as the irrefutable Queen of the World, and was convinced I’d be playing this album each day til I die. There are so many golden moments in the first half of the album, I’m still not even sick of ‘Texas Hold Em’ despite having flashbacks of Line Dancing at Holiday Camps in the 90s. The track ‘Daughter’ is a dream, ‘Spaghetti’ brings a bit of drill into the mix at the perfect time to shake things up a little. But only two tunes later and without even realising, I’ve started scrolling Facebook and I’ve checked out for a bit.
To be fair, it was always going to be a challenge listening to an album of 22 songs and a bunch of skits. I come from the age when good albums fitted on half a C90 cassette, or at a push, both sides of a C60. The only difference now is that our attention spans are even shorter, so it always baffles me when people make such sprawling and overblown albums. Not that I remember any bad songs on it, but once I realised I wasn’t paying attention properly I really tried to re-engage and there was nothing that pulled me back in. It felt like maybe Beyoncé had checked out a little too. What started as an epic musical now felt like it was being dragged out further than the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. ‘Ya Ya’ certainly had some energy, and I might even enjoy it on a further listen but the echoes of ‘Hey Ya’, ‘Happy’ and even Fatboy Slim felt more than a little corny this time round. The house tempo ‘Riverdance’ was when tracks started cutting through my growing apathy again. Thankfully this was not a Michael Flatley tribute though I started almost wishing for some fiddles and a proper hoedown.
As if by magic I got a flash of fiddles in the trap influenced r’n’b track ‘Tyrant’ though I realised the hoedown vibes peaked with ‘Texas Hold Em’. ‘Sweet * Honey * Buckin’ picked up the pace again with a Jersey club twist but we were definitely wrapping things up by now and I was kind of glad for the final track. ‘Amen’ was a solid gospel-ish finish and I was back in the movie as closing credits ran. I’m not sure I’ll sit through the whole director’s cut again, but I might make my own edit of the juicy bits, of which there are definitely plenty.
