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Beyonce Ladles Chicken Soup for the Pop Soul on ‘Epic’ Anthem ‘Rise Up’

Beyonce

Another new Beyoncé song has entered the world, and this one is the stuff of Olympic montages, inspirational school assemblies, and, well, Super Bowl halftime shows, at least the way they were in the ’90s. Co-written with Rihanna’s “Diamonds” consigliere Sia, and produced by Hit-Boy with Chase N Cashe, “Rise Up” appears on the soundtrack to the animated fantasy Epic, which stars Mrs. Knowles-Carter as Queen Tara. The song is all highly competent and catchy, if slightly generic uplift, a choir of Beys boldly belting out trite slogans (“Be who you are”) amid strummy arena rock that befits a movie packed with Snow Patrol songs. Also, the ending melody cries out for a mashup with Mark Cherry’s “Getaway.” The song is less flat-out fun than other recently unveiled Queen B tracks, “Standing on the Sun” and “Grown Woman,” but it’s also for a different audience; as another facet of an immensely talented, globally popular singer, it makes sense. 

A bootleg snippet previously surfaced, but now “Rise Up” is available to buy now over at Amazon.