Culture

The Best Reactions To Beyoncé’s New House Favourite ‘Break My Soul’

"NOT BREAK MY SOUL BEING A HOUSE ANTHEM"

by Charles Rushforth  21 June 2022

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As it approached midnight on America’s East Coast, Beyoncé — as promised — released her first new material since 2016.

Yup, it’s been six long years. But we’re thrilled to report that ‘Break My Soul’, the lead single from Bey’s upcoming album Renaissance, is bloody amazing. House excellence writ large, the track is a defiant cry of liberation from the dull constraints of work, featuring sampling from seasoned Beyoncé collaborator, Big Freedia. The internet’s broad reactions to the track can be summarised in three words: pure, unbridled joy.

Featuring a synth melody that may or may not be the work of a Korg M1 — the track harks back to early ‘90s House music while its lyrics speak to a post-pandemic America that is undeniably fed up with work — elevating ‘Break My Soul’ into something truly unique. As Twitter users have pointed out, the track is co-written by Terius ‘The-Dream’ Nash, a producer who has contributed to many a Beyoncé banger in the past.

So much fanfare is being made of Beyoncé’s very successful pivot to house music, that the internet seems to convinced that any criticism of the new track is evidence that the listener is simply too straight to get it.

Meanwhile, our favourite pop culture stalwarts — from Stranger Things to SpongeBob — have received the ‘Break My Soul’ treatment, with even Hilary Duff being pulled into the club track’s orbit.

Beyoncé has cryptically teased that her forthcoming album will only be “Act 1“, so a potential double or even triple album could well be in the works.

In the meantime, you know what we’ll be listening to.