Yesterday, MOBO was invited to an exclusive first full listen of Beyoncé's fourth studio album 4. The glamorous event was attended by the cream of London's music journalists, all eager to hear Beyoncé's new album. It was bold, crisp and full of flavour - and that was just what the free champagne tasted like. The album however, similarly to the champagne, was a high quality product, rich in style and simply fizzing with musical genius.

The album kicks off with the powerful ballad '1+1' which clearly shows off Beyoncé's brilliant vocals. The song is passionate and accurately sets the standard for the rest of the album. The strong beat, coupled with the 'massive' feel that is embodied in the track tells the listener that this album is going to be a bold and brave attempt at bringing something original to the music scene. The lyrics also reflect a sophistication that is rare to find with many artists. The song ends with an incredible guitar solo which encapsulates, perfectly, the passion and emotion of the song. The rock element continues in the following track 'I Care' which starts with a violent thumping beat and ends with an increasingly impacting guitar solo.

Ultimately, one of the best tracks on the album is 'Party'. The track has Beyoncé's one and only featured artist on the album, Andre 3000. The pairing of the two works extremely well and brings a Hip-Hop flavour to the album. It has a funky summertime vibe, which is also found on 'Love on Top'. Kanye West features briefly at the start on 'Party' but takes a back seat on this because he also produced the record. The track uses a sample from the 1985 classic 'La Di Da Di' by Doug E. Fresh and MC Ricky D (a.k.a Slick Rick).

Beyoncé has used a variety of samples on her album, possibly all part of her quest to create her 'mixed musical gumbo'. On 'Countdown' she includes a sample of Boyz II Men's 'Uh Ahh' on the chorus. To be honest, it is very difficult to 'get' this song, particularly the chorus. Maybe it is too ahead of its time. Nonetheless, it is still a great tune, filled with marching drum beats and majestic trumpets.

The samples continue on 'Run The World (Girls)' which uses Major Lazer's track 'Pon De Floor'; an interesting sound that definitely takes Beyoncé in a different musical direction. Where exactly she is going with this is difficult to say. 'Run The World (Girls)' sounds very unique, unusual but yet totally innovative. On paper this song should not work, but Beyoncé makes it. The beat is immensely authoritative and reflects the song's theme of female empowerment. The military theme continues on the song 'End of Time' which has the same marching drum beat from 'Run The World (Girls)'. The similarity between both songs continues, as they share an abrupt ending, as if the songs have been randomly cut off. Clearly this was an intentional decision which works well on both tracks, however it does leave the listener slightly on edge.

The album does have some slow songs with milder beats, for example 'I Miss You', 'Best Thing I Never Had', 'Rather Die Young' and 'I Was There'. However, each song still manages to achieve that military sound from the more upbeat tracks through an undercurrent of the marching drum beat. 'Rather Die Young' is a powerful love song where Beyoncé sings, 'I'd rather die young than live my life without you'. A personal favourite from the lyrics is, 'You're my James Dean, you make me feel seventeen'.

Overall, 4 is an incredible album. It stands out from most of albums at the moment purely because of how Beyoncé draws influence from a range of musical genres. The use of the strong military sound throughout the album ties in well with themes such as female empowerment, passion and love. In addition, the lack of features on the album shows Beyoncé's determination to produce a body of work that represents herself as a serious and independent artist. The album can only be described best by Beyoncé herself, who said “I'm mixing every type of genre that I love, and I'm inspired by every type of genre...I'm not in a box. It's not R&B. It's not typically pop. It's not rock. It's just everything I love all mixed together in my own little gumbo of music."

4 quite suitably, gets '4' M's

4 is released on Monday 27th June, 2011.

Words: Ashiseta Metcalfe @LayDeeAshy