Beyonce shifts for fresh sound with 'Bow Down'

Category: Entertainment Published on Tuesday, 19 March 2013 06:00 Written by Associated Press Hits: 962

QUEEN BEY--Beyonce backstage during Jay Z's performance at Coachella (CNN Photo/Aaron Humphreys)

by Breeanna Hare

(CNN) -- Beyoncé quietly dropped a bomb on Sunday when she posted a preview of her new music to her website.

"Bow Down/I Been On," which appears to be two different tracks compressed into one, is the first new offering from Mrs. Carter since she released her album "4" in 2011.

If this new sound is any indication, the singer's upcoming album will remind everyone that Queen Bey is holding onto her crown.

In the first half of the offering, "Bow Down" is explicit - in more ways than one.

"I took some time to live my life, but don't think I'm just his little wife," Beyoncé sings/warns on the Hit Boy-produced track. "Don't get it twisted ... bow down, b*****s." She repeats that latter demand while giving love to "H-town" throughout.

About a minute-and-a-half in, the song switches gears to the syrupy "I Been On," which MTV describes as "another far cry from Bey's usual glimmering pop&B formula, as the siren's vocals are transformed Houston chopped-and-screwed style."

Billboard concurs that this is a departure for her, as it's a move away "from the triumphant, glistening pop most are used to hearing from Beyoncé. Instead, it's a gritty, Houston rap-tinged track that features an empowered Bey growling."

The music website called it "an odd sampling, though, as the track only uses Beyoncé's signature vocal technique through the first minute before it devolves into a menacing, pitched-down rap that sounds more like a Hit Boy mixtape track."