Beyonce is planning to switch musical direction on her third solo album. The singer is reportedly prepared to ditch her usual heavy R’n'B for a more dancefloor-orientated LP. The former Destiny’s Child star has hired Brighton dance act Freemasons to work on some tracks for the record. Freemasons’ James Wiltshire told the Daily Star: ‘The album is going to be huge. It will rival anything the likes of Britney and Rihanna have done recently. Beyonce and her team can see where mistakes were made on the last album. It was very American, very R’n'B and stripped back. They want to go for a more international sound this time.’

James and bandmate Russell Small, both 32, got the call from Bey’s peeps after they did the official remixes of her hits Deja Vu and Beautiful Liar. James explained: ‘Her management have been in almost daily contact with us ever since. It is exciting getting to work on a new tune for her, as we get to be really creative.’ He added: ‘We were asked to do the remix of Britney’s Gimme More and to work on Donna Summer’s new album, but we put them both on hold to work with Beyonce. Normally big stars don’t take any notice of smaller acts like us. So her decision shows just where she is going with this album. Beyonce is very clever when it comes to promoting her music. She wants to hit as many audiences as possible.’