Single review: Beyonce "(Who run the world) Girls"...what a mess!

You have to give it to Beyonce. Far from staying safe and returning with something that screams "HIT" or that treads familiar territory, Queen B takes a risk and serves up something that sounds akin to a lot of noise on first listen, in the form of new single Girls (Who Run the World).

What makes Girls such a perceived mess, and as such a tough sell, is that bar the chant of "Who runs the world? Girls!" and a familiar sample- in the form of Pon De Floor- the song has no hook, memorable melody or decipherable structure for a listener weaned on a formulaic style of music to grasp to.

There is a small glimmer of hope for those listeners to cling to in the form of the songs bridge- which has an intoxicating melody, solid vocal, and that cuts the tribalish beat- but its only a fleeting relief from the chaos and not nearly long enough to make it easier on the ear.

Being so different, Girls is likely to go either one of two ways. If Beyonce is lucky, her star power, and the fact that this is her return, will insure this is a hit. Conversely the polar opposite could happen and the song alienates sections of Beyonce's diverse market thus causing it to tank. Disaster may be mitigated if the accompanying video is strong enough to hold the songs lawlessness together with a coherent visual but as an audio track this it isn't going to sell on its own merit.

Girls (Who Run the World) has a lot to prove as its the first release without the controlling hand of her father, Matthew Knowles, on the project. This being so, is the release of such a risky return single the result of an unguided, out of touch singer, or is it a sign of a more creative and risk taking artist being allowed to flourish on her own? Either way Queen B is coming back and coming hard, albeit in a somewhat chaotic way, for all the Females of the world, and its a better place for it!

Rating:3/5