Beyonc drops surprise album as Homecoming concert film debuts

Surprise album drops aren't new for Beyonc fans, but the pop star managed to catch music lovers unaware again on Wednesday by debuting an unexpected live concert album as a companion to the highly anticipated film of her famedCoachellagig.

Homecoming: The Live Album was released overnight across streaming platforms such as Spotify, Google Play,Apple Music and Tidal.

It'sthe singer's first solo album since her influential Lemonade,which she only released on Tidal, the service she co-owns with rapper husband Jay-Z,and to physical retailers in 2016.

The new album arrived as the Beyhive thesinger's hardcore fanbase began diving intoNetflix'sHomecoming: A Film by Beyonc, alive concert film offering a behind-the-scenes look at her criticallyacclaimed appearances at last year's edition of the CoachellaValley Music and Arts Festival.

Previously unannounced, the companion album presents her pair ofCoachellaperformances as a 40-track release. The set list alsoincludes bonus material, including a cover ofBefore I Let Go, a modest 1981 R&B hit by soul and funk group Maze.

Homecoming follows the singer's 2018'sEverything Is Love, a collaborative album she and Jay-Z(billed as The Carters) released during their concert tour.

Historic gig

Beyonc, whopostponed her appearance at Coachellafor a year due to the birth of her twins Rumi and Sir, was the first black woman to headline the popular American music festival.

Her 2018 performances one for each of the festival's two weekends anddubbed Beychellaby fans became a sensation widely hailed as an ode to black culture inspired by America's historically black college and universities.

In the Netflixfilm,Beyoncoffers a peek into the gruelling effort she put into creating the show, including revealing personal details about complications she encountered while pregnant with twins and her attempt to balance family life with a return to the stage.