Singer Beyonce holds a Q&A session at the release party of her new self-titled album in New York.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 21, 2013) (PARKWOOD ENTERTAINMENT) -  U.S. pop singer Beyonce attended the release party of her new self-titled visual album in New York on Saturday (December 21).

The unexpected release of the album caps a year in which the 32-year-old Beyonce made a carefully choreographed return to music after taking time out to give birth to her first child, daughterBlue Ivy, with rapper husband Jay Z. Both Blue Ivy and Jay Z feature as collaborators on the new album and appear in accompanying music videos.

At the screening party at the School of Visual Arts in New York, the 32-year-old songstress said that releasing it was not easy.

"I have never done anything so brave in my life. And the amount of personal growth from this project is unlike anything I have ever done. I took all of my insecurities, all of my doubts, all of my fears and everything I have learned I applied it into this project. And it's interesting how motherhood changes you and how it changes your prospective on life," she said.

The album was released digitally in the early hours of December 13 and sold over one million copies worldwide in the first week, a record for iTunes.

"I am very proud of it. But more than the music I am proud of myself as a woman for taking the risks. And the biggest message is 'owning your imperfections and all the things that make you interesting.' Because I refuse to allow someone to put me in anybody's box," she said.

The Texas-born singer, whose real name is Beyonce Knowles-Carter, is one of the most successful singers in the world, regularly selling out concert tours and with her albums hitting the number one sales spots.