Beyonce: Too risky

Johnny Borrell hasn't, as far as we know, contributed to Beyonce's new album, but it looks as if his po-faced pronouncement stylings have influenced the PR campaign for it.

Beyonce has written an open letter to her fans, since - apparently - they might need to prepare themselves for when the record emerges:

"I have recorded over 70 songs and have created a sound that reveals all of me. I am in a different place right now, and I wanted people to see the many sides of me," Beyoncé continued in the letter. "The music is upbeat for the dance, fun side, and it is reflective, passionate and serious for the personal side. I have taken risks here. I am not afraid. ... There is no label or tag on my sound. It's me, and I am so excited to share it with the world."

Did you hear that? Beyonce has taken risks, risks for you, dammit, so you better be bloody thankful. Since recording some poppy up-tempo stuff and throwing in a couple of ballads isn't, of itself, very much of in the way of risk-taking, I can only assume that Beyonce recorded this record while under gunfire, or perhaps in a swimming pool as an electric toaster was slowly lowered towards the surface - if you can't nail the song in one take, you'll pay the price.

Or maybe she just means that she's taken the risk that people might think she's exaggerating the dangers involved in making a nice pop record. That could be it.