Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé has debuted on Netflix, and the superstar has celebrated in the best way possible – by dropping a surprise album.
The documentary, which chronicles the build-up to Beyoncé’s history-making Coachella 2018 set, was first officially teased last week, but fans had no idea it would be accompanied by a live album of her set.
The record, which includes a whopping 40 tracks, arrived on streaming services on Wednesday morning.
Alongside live versions of her hits, Homecoming: A Live Album features one new track, Before I Let Go (skip to track 39 if you’re eager to hear this first), which is featured in the documentary’s credits.
Variety points out that Before I Let Go (which was originally recorded by Frankie Beverly and Maze in 1981) has long been a favourite of Bey’s, noting that she was seen doing the Electric Slide to it in a family gathering video once shared by Tina Knowles.
The Homecoming film was shot over eight months and highlights all of the preparation that went into her ground-breaking performance, which involved 150 musicians, dancers and creatives, all hand-picked by Beyoncé.
The singer directed both the performance and the film that captured the process of making it.
Describing the whole thing as “one of the hardest jobs I have taken on”, she said: “I knew that I had to push myself and my team to go beyond great to legendary.
“We knew nothing like this was ever done on a festival level before and it needed to be iconic beyond compare.”
The resulting performance, Beyoncé says, was “an homage to an important part of African American culture”.
“It had to be true to those who know and entertaining and enlightening to those who needed to learn,” she said. “In making the film and re-telling the story, the purpose remained the same.”
Early reviews have been favourable with the Los Angeles Times stating the film “captures an icon at her radical peak”.
“Both a traditional concert documentary and the manifesto of a superstar artist no longer bound by convention, the film shows her Coachella performances through a tapestry of rehearsal footage, home videos, archival pieces and voiceover,” they add.
