Beyoncé confirms new 'music is coming' after exploring 'thousands of sounds'

New music from Queen Bey is buzzing on the horizon.

After five years without releasing a solo project, Beyoncé is nearly ready to drop her highly anticipated next album.

"With all the isolation and injustice over the past year, I think we are all ready to escape, travel, love, and laugh again," the icon recently told Harper's Bazaar. "I feel a renaissance emerging, and I want to be part of nurturing that escape in any way possible. I've been in the studio for a year and a half."

Beyoncé explained that the process has taken so long because she's very particular about small details other artists might overlook. For example, "it takes a year" for her to "personally search through thousands of sounds to find just the right kick or snare," or that "one chorus can have up to 200 stacked harmonies" (!!!) until she finds the perfect fit.

"Still, there's nothing like the amount of love, passion, and healing that I feel in the recording studio," continued the singer, who turns 40 in September. "After 31 years, it feels just as exciting as it did when I was 9 years old. Yes, the music is coming!"

Though 2016's Lemonade marks the last full-length studio album of solo material from the former Destiny's Child superstar, she has released three other musical projects in the interim: Her 2018 collaborative album, Everything Is Love (recorded with her husband, Jay-Z); the 2019 movie soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift, and Homecoming: The Live Album, which accompanied the release of her Netflix concert film documenting her 2018 Coachella set.

Across those four projects, Beyoncé won eight Grammys for her work — setting the bar with a record for the most wins by a solo singer in the awards show's history.

In addition to launching her IVY PARK clothing line, Beyoncé has dropped a handful of successful one-off singles since the release of Lemonade, including a feature on the J Balvin and Willy William single "Mi Gente," which hit No. 3 in the United States in 2017, and a duet with Megan Thee Stallion on a remix of the rapper's breakout hit, "Savage," which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 last summer.

Read Beyoncé's full Harper's Bazaar cover story here.

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