Miley Cyrus releases 'Endless Summer Vacation'
Jumping back into the music spotlight, Miley Cyrus has released her brand new album Endless Summer Vacation. With her most recent project previous to this release having come out in November of 2020, Cyrus has clearly taken time to reflect on herself and her life and almost completely shift gears in the past three years. From the gap between albums, Cyrus has developed a shiny new lease on self-love, worth, and cynicism. The progression between projects makes it very evident and has led Cyrus to some of her most conceptually attentive work to date.
Endless Summer Vacation jumps off to a familiar start with Flowers, the lead single off the album. Flowers was the only single released ahead of this album, leaving it to be the driving force of rumors among fans as to what direction Cyrus was taking her latest musical era. Despite the pop undertones of Flowers, many were expecting Cyrus to hone in her previous dip into the rock genre that she explored with her album Plastic Hearts. To many’s surprises, Cyrus pushed her envelope even further to bring her best attributes of multiple previous genres and sounds she has been formally interested in.
The first brand-new song on the album is Jaded. Cyrus lends her powerful belting vocals to this track to drive home the chorus and give texture to her catchy verses. Cyrus sings I'm sorry that you’re jaded, I could have taken you places, you’re lonely now and I hate it, I’m sorry that you’re jaded. With its synth-pop undertones and echoing guitar plucks Cryus explores the feeling of not being able to fix the circumstances of a situation between herself and another where she had more of herself out on the table than the other did.
Next up on the track list comes Rose Colored Lenses, a song about wanting to play pretend in hopes of preserving a moment that Cyrus knows is fading. The production introducing this track is reminiscent of Harry Styles’ Grapejuice, a song that came out this past year off Styles’ Grammy-awarded album Harry’s House.
In a personal track Wonder Woman, about Cyrus’ grandmother on her mom’s side after she passed, Cyrus reaches her most clean and impressive vocal moment of the album. Her belts echo powerfully with no fault, further solidifying Cyrus’ strength as a musician.
While this album does have a few dips in intrigue, there are more ups than downs overall. River, Violet Chemistry, Wildcard, and Island feel like the standouts of the album, while tracks like Muddy Feet ft. Sia and Thousand Miles ft. Brandie Carlile falls a little flat in the context of the rest of the tracks.
Cyrus’ mix of cynicism and self-reflection and an ultimate new understanding of the love she has and wishes she had in her life come together to create an overall cohesive piece of work that feels authentic to the artist.
Check out Endless Summer Vacation, out now, as well as Cyrus’s live performance documentary supporting the new album out now on Disney plus.