Following the surprise release of her latest album, Beyoncé has spoken about her apprehension over the unconventional manner in which her new LP was unveiled.

Beyoncé’s self-titled fifth studio album was made available via iTunes without prior announcement or marketing on December 13. ‘Beyoncé’ is a visual album which contains 14 new songs and 17 music videos.

During a release party held the School of Visual Arts Theatre in New York yesterday (December 21) the ‘XO’ superstar revealed how she felt about her album’s release strategy:

“I was terrified. I was so scared. I already envisioned like the worst things that could happen.”

She added: “"I was really nervous because this was a huge risk.”

Beyoncé also addressed the difficulties she faced in keeping her latest recordings under wraps as she explained:

“We went through a lot of things to keep it secret, to keep the surprise. I really, really wanted to surprise people, and for them really just to hear the art and not be about the hype and the promotion.”

When asked what she hopes her fans will take away from her latest release Beyoncé responded:

“Own your imperfections and all the things that make you interesting.”

Despite the success of ‘Beyoncé’ both Amazon and Target have refused to stock physical copies of the album due to the one-week digital exclusive that was granted to iTunes. 

Watch the video for 'XO' below: