The Dutch Zing Magazine asked me to write a review about Beyoncés voice!
With singers like Whitney Houston or Adèle, the first thing that comes to mind is their special voice. Beyoncé’s voice is not lacking much, but for me she is rather a special phenomenon than a singer with a distinctive voice. This has to do with her many faces as a singer, actress, dancer, entertainer, activist, fashion icon and businesswoman. She is also an omnivore musically, singing everything from up-tempo R&B songs, rocky ballads to musical and country. In this universe her voice is an important tool to shape this ever-changing repertoire and her changing role in it.
In Halo, her R&B hit, you hear her sing with a beautiful low sound, tasteful adlibs, breathy sounds interspersed with a full voice, and notes that slide up into an breathy head voice. The volume is high. When she sings and dances, for example in Crazy in Love, you can hear with how much pleasure she plays with rhythm and sound. The consonants are turned up and the word endings are kept short. However high the tempo, the lyrics never sound thoughtless and where singers sometimes hold on to every last note, she deliberately determines the length of her notes.
Beyoncé released a large body of work and in this way you can hear that she sometimes sings out of tune, especially in the high parts. As a singer you certainly don’t have to be ashamed of that when you sing live, but it surprises me that the false notes on studio recordings of Drunk in Love and also Crazy in Love, for example, have not been corrected. In Don’t hurt yourself and Freedom, you can hear her as an activist with an important feminist and anti-racist message. This translates to a rawer voice, you can hear the anger, sometimes she screams and it is more speech than singing. There are fewer embellishments, the thin high notes have been replaced by rock influences with growling onsets. I was surprised by Listen from the musical film Dreamgirls in which she turns into a musical star like a chameleon. You hear long lines where some words are subtly emphasized with runs without interrupting the musical line. The build-up to the chorus is spectacular.
Despite her exceptional ability, especially stylistically, Beyoncé’s music and voice do not really touch me emotionally. However, I certainly admire and enjoy the rare level and impact of her work, her boundless energy and her incredible guts.
© Ineke Vandoorn – ZING Magazine 24-10