With an introduction like "Formation" sent ahead of the rest of the album, shooting up a flare and demanding we all get woke, it wouldn't have been a surprise if Lemonade had been a deeper conversation with the BeyHive — and our larger culture — on Black Lives Matter, equality, the systematic oppression of minorities in America, or any number of other issues that Bey managed to touch on in that single song.

Instead, Beyoncé truly surprised by delivering the most personal narrative she's ever shared with the world.

The album is her story of discovering infidelity, wrestling with it, and ultimately forgiving it. It's the most cohesive album of her career, as close to a concept as she'll ever come, except for "6 Inch," a song right in the middle Lemonade penned by The Weeknd (and clearly the spiritual sister to "In The Night") that explores his favourite topics: women who grind and the darkest hours of the day.

Overall, Lemonade is a huge progression forward in storytelling from Beyoncé's 2013 album, because she's created an actual story using visual elements this time, rather than a series of vignettes matched up to songs. While there may be standalone singles — "6 Inch" seems poised for R & B radio — for the most part, she's created an album you want to listen to in full. In the era of singles, she's created an album experience.

At the same time, it feels like she's taking on the musical styles of her collaborators more than usual. Perhaps it's to devote herself to being as lyrically honest as possible. Perhaps she's curating the picks carefully. It's hard to say.

The album's first two tracks, "Pray You Catch Me" and "Hold Up," strongly reflect the style of their respective writers and co-producers, James Blake and Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend. The songs are virtually inseparable from the musical style and work of those two men (with Diplo dropping some sirens in on the latter to make his own signature heard). "Hold Up," though, is a complicated song to pull apart, because it's layered over and over in indie rock influences from the 2000s. In addition to Koenig and Diplo co-producing it with Bey, you've got lyrics from the debauched poet laureate Father John Misty (previously of Fleet Foxes) and a sample of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Before you can even get done unpacking how deep she rolls in the scene, Beyoncé is on to the next song with the man indie rock reveres: Jack White.

Their collaboration on "Don't Hurt Yourself" is full of grandiose statements, ultimatums ("I fucked with you / until I realised I'm just too much for you" and "you're gonna lose your wife"), and is absolutely drenched in White's favourite studio tricks of vocal distortion and heavy, driving drums. Oh yeah, they managed to layer on a sample of Led Zeppelin, too, just in case you weren't sure Bey could rock. On tour, this will be where the all-girl band comes out to dust all the side chicks.