Miley… this music chameleon has hit more troubled waters recently.
My favourite Miley music, “Flowers” and “Wrecking Ball” aside, was found in Plastic Hearts (2020, her last album with RCA), where, clad in leather, she hit the rock vein in all its power. “What the fuck do I know?” she sang, and hooked me in.
We reviewed “Something Beautiful” and gave it an artistic thumbs up, but were aware that it never really caught fire as some of those earlier releases did. It was clever and, on reflection, held together cinematically rather than producing the big single.
What I have been a little more concerned about is how sections of the mainstream press, rather than the music press, have started to make increasingly snide comments — noting with seeming glee how the new single quickly fell down the charts and licking their lips with comments about how the “scantily clad Miley” in the video is currently struggling.
I would push back against that narrative. We are talking about an artist as musically talented as anyone out there. Singles are not everything. Led Zeppelin, for example, had very few hit singles, yet their albums and influence have lasted decades.
There is also the massive demand for tickets for her upcoming shows. Around 1.5 million people reportedly queued for approximately 35,000 tickets to her two upcoming Hollywood Bowl shows, while the millions following her across streaming platforms provide more than enough evidence of an artist who continues to command enormous attention.
The sheer volume of interest in those upcoming shows has led Miley to consider an LA residency, letting the people come to her — a luxury that comes with success and the comfort that brings. It does, however, mean that an economically poorer fan in the UK will no longer be able to simply go and see her live.
I am not going to spend time here on the biography. If you are reading this, you already know who Miley is. You know the back story, that she has changed record label and is now going by Miley alone rather than Miley Cyrus. The proof is always in the pudding, and you are here for the review.
So here it is.
The Album
Released September 18, 2026, the new album from Miley arrives only around fifteen months after Something Beautiful, released on June 6, 2025. By today’s standards of increasingly long gaps between albums from major artists, that is almost prolific.
This is her tenth studio album. The cover plays with the rose motif — a rose of love, a white rose of York, peace? It took me toward Starcrawler’s second album, Devour You, albeit with different placement (and colour choice) of the rose.
Roses are very symbolic. Colour and placement matter, particularly when that rose is being held in Miley’s mouth on the cover. I like to speculate! “Snow” is the last track, and snow is white, so these jigsaw connections are there if you want to go down the rabbit holes.
The album has nine tracks — ten if we count the remix of “Bass Persuades” at the end — and lasts just over 37 minutes.
“Bass Persuades” is the first single released from the album, and we have a track that took me straight to Madonna. That’s kind of okay, but I like Miley to sound like Miley. She has her own distinctive sound and is capable of setting an agenda — there is no need to follow one.
Lyrically, it has a strong beat, decent bass feel and a repeating chorus that notes too many kids are glued to those screens without dancing. It’s fine, but it doesn’t have the bite or identity of Miley at her best; it is a late-Madonna release.
“Different Religion”, featuring Model/Actriz, has a connection with this post-punk band so early in the album, and that is interesting. Of course, Miley has always included some great recordings with names ranging from Billy Idol to Dolly Parton.
This is the track that comes with a video released on the day of the album’s release. Miley delivers a duet with Model/Actriz around the theme of wanting to be saved, but without the forgiveness — yes, if I don’t apologise then I don’t want forgiveness anyway!
The track itself is a heavy, urban-sounding dance number. Some reviews have described this as a rock-style track. It isn’t. It is not a track that would slip into her Plastic Hearts era. It is edgy pop.
“Let’s Get Married!” changes direction.
“What did I do to deserve you?”
It is dreamy, romantic pop, one of those late-evening romantic numbers you hear on the radio — celebrating the moment you decide to just get married!
I swayed along to it, and it has an easy appeal. Our cat Baby Blue came and settled down on the mat for this one. It has that wide connection for all listeners!
“Orbit” is the most Miley-sounding track so far. Because of that, I connected to this one. It is, to be honest, the first track on this album that I really connected with.
It is a ballad of desire and love, the wish to orbit the one you love forever. It is stripped back and minimal, the busyness of the earlier openers stripped away to present the voice and the emotion.
This is what she does so well, because she is being herself and her voice has the emotive power to deliver.
“Aftermath” closes side one of the physical vinyl album and is about building that bunker at the back of your mind. It is a faster track — techno, club radio. The energy is all there, and the theme is “you were mine” — a slickly produced, bounce-along number.
“REDLIGHTS” opens with a cool, strutting beat, and I did like this one.
For me, it has a cinematic quality, a strong rhythm and a track that is really strong (it’s the cool cat of the album). I liked it much better than her two choices for singles. It has this catchy groove; it is well constructed and oozes quality in the songwriting.
I would have had this open side one.
“Neon Signs”, featuring Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow, is an uplifting romantic track. The duet with Andrew, who has previously worked with Lady Gaga among many others, gives the song a different texture.
It brings a late-night feeling, something Spanish-island about it. It is a song for those hot, balmy evenings with a coffee and a breeze from the sea — dreamy and nodding towards the erotic.
“Innocent Ways” is a club dance track about sisters. It uses a fast rhythmic beat and the acknowledgement that “grace comes with age — but don’t tell her!”
It is a companion track to “Bass Persuades”, and I was okay with it, but it is not really what I personally want Miley to do.
“Snow” effectively closes the album. At 4:15, this is quite an expansive ballad, light in feeling and vocally emotive.
It is a track for waving those colour sticks in the air and dreaming of better times and those who are no longer with us — disappearing footsteps in the snow.
“Bass Persuades Remixx”, with Model/Actriz, closes the album in the form of a techno montage. It is a fast, upbeat closer, but again took me back towards Madonna, where I wanted Miley.
It’s full of confidence and is there as an extra. But for me, the album ended with “Snow”.
In Summary
The first point is that I pre-ordered the album on vinyl, and it is due to arrive in a week’s time. “Plastic Hearts” often finds itself on the turntable, as does “Bangerz.” I am not cancelling my order, but I am not entirely sure this one will get as much time on the turntable as the other two.
The album mixes ballads with dance, slipping between an urban late-night club and a more intimate romance. There are moments when Miley sounds completely at home, and those are the moments that really work for me.
“Orbit” and “REDLIGHTS” are where I found the Miley I was looking for.
The problem is that, at times, I found myself asking why an artist with such a distinctive voice was sounding like somebody else.
And perhaps that is the great irony of Miley. She has spent a career changing skins, crossing genres and refusing to sit still. But the moments when she really catches fire are not necessarily when she becomes something new.
They are when she sounds unmistakably like herself, a rose by any other name…
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Artist website here
Stream music from Miley here
By Mark C. Chambers
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