No Angel (Beyoncé song)
| "No Angel" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Beyoncé | |
| from the album Beyoncé | |
| Recorded |
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| Genre | Chillwave |
| Length | 3:48 |
| Label | |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) |
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"No Angel" (stylized as "Angel") is a song by American singer Beyoncé from her self-titled fifth studio album (2013). It was written by James Fauntleroy, Caroline Polachek, and Beyoncé while the latter two and Boots also served as its producers. Polachek worked on several songs for the singer's album with her bandmate from Chairlift, Patrick Wimberly, before "No Angel" was included on the record.
A chillwave midtempo song with elements of R&B, hip hop and trap music, "No Angel" features a minimalistic production and instrumentation consisting mostly of bass. Beyoncé uses a high vocal register, singing in falsetto with breathy vocals. Lyrically, the song features the protagonist declaring that neither she nor her love interest are perfect. "No Angel" received generally favorable reviews from contemporary music critics who praised its composition and the singer's vocal performance; however some of them criticized its placement on the album.
A music video for the song was directed by @lilinternet and filmed in Houston, Texas as a tribute to the singer's hometown. It features various landscape shots of the city as well as close-ups of numerous people, including ten Houston-based rappers; Beyoncé also appears, dressed in white. The clip received positive reviews from critics who praised the fact that it accurately captured Houston. At the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé performed "No Angel" live during a medley of songs from her fifth studio album.
Beyoncé met with Polachek's bandmate of Chairlift, Patrick Wimberly, who collaborated with her sister Solange Knowles at that time and went with her on tour. During the tour, Beyoncé expressed her admiration of Wimberly, adding that she would "love to get in the studio some time". Wimberly later contacted Beyoncé's management, and Polachek and himself were later invited to a studio in Manhattan to work on Beyoncé self-titled fifth studio album. They stayed in the studio for a week and when the duo was asked to submit the tracks to Beyoncé's team, Polachek added one song with complete production and a missing verse she had written while being on tour in the United Kingdom. At that time, she felt that the song "could be a good album track for Chairlift, but it would be incredibly sexy if Beyoncé did it". Polachek further elaborated about the differences between her version of "No Angel" and Beyoncé's rendition, saying, "Her groove was different—my vocals were jumpier, and hers were more like panting. And in my version the synths detuned really quickly for a second; she did the same thing but with her voice. It sounds like the whole song melts."
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