Before her ninth studio album, “Something Beautiful,” arrived on Friday, Miley Cyrus had finally got her “Flowers.”
Seventeen years after “Meet Miley Cyrus” was coupled with the “Hannah Montana 2” soundtrack to introduce her as a teen-pop princess distinct from her Disney Channel character, the 32-year-old singer had won respect along with her first two Grammys — including the prestigious Record of the Year — for her 2023 smash “Flowers.”
So “Something Beautiful” is something of a victory party (in the U.S.A.) for Cyrus.
After even getting a co-sign from Beyoncé — their “II Most Wanted” duet, a highlight of “Cowboy Carter,” won Cyrus a third Grammy in February — she has nothing to prove anymore.
And there’s a sense of freedom in the ambition on “Something Beautiful.”
If it’s not “Endless Summer Vacation” — Cyrus’ excellent 2023 album that gave us “Flowers” — it’s a confident move into a new era where tapping the charts doesn’t matter as much as leveling up the art.
She doesn’t need to compete with the Sabrina Carpenters of the world.
Taking a cue from Beyoncé — who navigated a similar transition with her 2013 self-titled surprise album — “Something Beautiful” is a visual album that will be accompanied by a short film that will be released on June 6. And there is a cinematic scope to it with a dramatic spoken prelude and two instrumental interludes that are meant to bring a certain gravitas to it all.
But while we’ll reserve final judgment until the film, the standalone album doesn’t really need it. So just indulge Miss Miley — or use that skip button — and enjoy the rest of “Something Beautiful.”
Cyrus comes out swinging like a wrecking ball with the title track, which is one of the best things that she has ever recorded. Although it feels like it would have been an epic closer, it immediately sets a high bar for the album as she veers from D’Angelo-esque neo-soul to Pink Floyd-ish prog-rock — she has cited “The Wall” as an inspiration for this album — in a way that you would’ve never imagined that Mickey Mouse would’ve never imagined.
Indeed, there’s a genre-blurring boldness to it that conjures up Prince, who Cyrus echoes when she sings “watching the doves cry into the sunrise.”
It gets the album off to a stellar start that continues with “End of the World,” an apocalyptic, retro-‘80s bop that is part Prince — think “1999” — and part Stevie Nicks, an influence who Cyrus previously channeled on 2020’s “Midnight Sky.” Although the single hasn’t quite taken off like “Flowers” yet, it deserves to be one of the bops of summer.
Then there’s “More to Lose,” an aching breakup ballad that seems to hint at Cyrus’ bruised heart from her split with ex-husband Liam Hemsworth: “You’re looking like a a movie star in a worn-out coat/So I throw away my mind/It happens all the time,” she sings, letting you feel every bit of her pain in her signature, singular timbre.
Meanwhile, “Easy Lover” is a breezy ditty that effortlessly straddles country and pop, blues and soul. Apparently Cyrus offered the song to Beyoncé for “Cowboy Carter” before recording it herself. “Tell ‘em B,” she even ad-libs in a nod to Mrs. Carter that would have made perfect sense in a duet.
While we unfortunately don’t get another duet with Beyoncé on “Something Beautiful” — the two sounded way better together than they should have on “II Most Wanted” — Cyrus gets help from Brittany Howard and Naomi Campbell(!), respectively, on “Walk of Fame” and “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved,” two of the electro-dance tracks in the final stretch of the album. But here, they feel like a bit of a retreat back to the dance-pop of “Endless Summer Vacation.”
You kinda wish that Cyrus had had the courage of her convictions with which she started the album. It’s as if she felt that she needed to hedge her bets.
But “Golden Burning Sun” and “Pretend You’re God” are dreamy reveries that set the blissed-out mood for summer romance. And when Cyrus ends the album with the psych-tinged ballad “Give Me Love,” you’ll be offering up just that.
