Miley Cyrus Surrenders Herself to Love in Latest Album ‘Something Beautiful’
Miley Cyrus, American singer, songwriter, actress, producer, and director, who you might associate with summer road trips blasting “Party in the U.S.A.” or a childhood spent fangirling over Hannah Montana, has found her voice throughout the years and is in a place where she can explore and experiment. The more one listens to Cyrus and watch her perform, the more impressed with her vocal talent, creative direction, and songwriting you become. Her versatility is a marvel in itself as she has managed to seamlessly travel through classic pop, rock and roll, synth-pop, and country, all while maintaining a magnetic presence and staying true to herself.
With Something Beautiful, Cyrus dives headfirst into a combination of synth-pop, funk-pop, and electric. Rich vocals combined with her signature country twang and grungy raspiness put a unique spin on music genres that, at first, may seem a far stretch from what Cyrus is known for. She doesn’t try to create something entirely new, but instead, she explores instrumentals and themes that feel like an extension and evolution of her previous works. Something Beautiful is a fearless, hypnotic, and joyful celebration of the power of love and what that means to Cyrus. She doesn’t hesitate to surrender herself to loving someone else and finding true happiness, even if that means letting everything else go; her fame, her ego, everything.
photo by Glen Luchford
Something Beautiful is divided into sections, with interludes that prepare and welcome you to the next chapter. In the “Prelude,” Cyrus gently introduces you to the idea of letting yourself go, with the promise of falling in love: “Like when following an image from a train/Your eyes can't keep the passing landscapes/From being swallowed into endless distance/Like when holding a fistful of ashes/Your hands can't save the things that have already been dissolved into air.” Cyrus takes a feeling everyone has heard of, but only a few have experienced in full. She exposes just how fleeting love can be, without encouraging listeners to avoid it. One minute you are in love, and the next, you can feel it slipping through your fingers, and your grip isn't strong enough to hold on, even for just a minute longer. Cyrus acknowledges the fragility of love from the beginning to the end of the album, and she learns never to take her feelings for granted, no matter how strong or conflicting they may be.
The title track, “Something Beautiful,” is sultry and brimming with heartfelt and delightful honesty: “Tell me something beautiful, yeah, about this world/When I'm in your palm, I'm like a pearl/Tell me something I can hold on to, you're who I belong to/I drown in devotion, as deep as the ocean.” She experiments in the chorus with a clashing combination of electric guitar instrumentals, heavy drums, and smoky vocals that are jarring in the best way possible. The chorus gives the more groovy verses a jolt of energy and demonstrates Cyrus’ capability for mixing genres but not going too far as to confuse her listeners.
While “End of the World” may be the most radio-friendly song on the album, it is one of my favorites. The lyrics paint a joyful, colorful, and nostalgic picture of summertime that is hard to resist: “Ooh, let's go to Paris, I don't care if we get lost in the scene/Paint the city like Picasso would've done in his dreams/Do the things that we were way too terrified of before/Oh, I wanna take you to Nirvana, we can't take it too far/Hit the bottom of the bottle and forget who we are/Hold me close, you know tomorrow isn't comin' for sure.” I can imagine that while Cyrus was writing this bridge she was envisioning endless sunny summer days spent dancing on the beach and running through flower fields.
“End of the World” official music video directed by Miley Cyrus, Jacob Bixenman, and Brendan Walter
She brings a similar energy later in the album with the tracks “Walk of Fame” featuring Brittany Howard and “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” featuring Naomi Campbell. Both songs offer upbeat, disco-pop melodies worthy of dancing the night away until dawn and maybe even past sunrise. The instrumentals and song structures are reminiscent of 1980s and early 1990s disco music, and the added vocals of Howard and Campbell add a unique twist that offers listeners more spice and flavor.
Both tracks are immediate confidence boosters with lyrics that urge listeners and dancers alike to be their authentic selves, no matter the situation. To hold your head up high and be unafraid in the face of the status quo. For example, in “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” Campbell urges everyone to strike their best pose: “She never wears a watch, still she's never late/She's got that kind of grace/Did Botticelli paint her face?/She has the perfect scent/She speaks the perfect French/She can dance the night away/And still she'll never break a sweat/Pose, pose.” Her British accent is confident and irresistible, and you cannot help but believe she is speaking about you. In “Walk of Fame,” the chorus reminds us that we are one-of-a-kind, and no one can take our sparkle away: “Ooh, yeah, it's a walk of fame/And through the tears, I can see it so clear/Walk away, walk away (Yеah, every time I walk, it's a walk of fame)/Ooh, yeah, it's a walk of fame/And through the mirror, I can see it so clear/Walk away, walk away.” Looking at the album as a whole, I think these tracks fit perfectly, despite having a more radio-friendly appeal because while Cyrus encourages listeners to fall in love and follow their heart, these songs give you the confidence to be yourself and attract the kind of people you want in your life. I can imagine both these tracks will be hits this summer season as people enjoy nicer weather and hit the nightclub on the weekends, or during the week if you are feeling it!
With “More to Lose,” “Easy Lover,” and “Golden Burning Sun,” Cyrus is less upbeat with her instrumentals, and yet she still carries hope and a positive outlook on love through songs that at first seem melancholy, like they are coming from a place of heartbreak. “More to Lose” opens with a peaceful and quaint string instrumental before deep piano notes grow through the first verse and peak in the chorus. With the instrumentals, Cyrus’ vocals become strong and rich with emotion. A trumpet and accordion-sounding instrumental winds beautifully through the chorus, complimenting Cyrus’ more twangy vocals. She is more regretful if anything, but she has made her peace, and she reflects on what could have been, but she is not heartbroken: “The more I stay, the less I go/We’re toe to toe, but I'm hanging on the wire/Stumbled down the same road before/Say I'm leavin', but I'm only playing liar/‘Cause when you're lookin' like/A movie star in a worn-out coat/Yeah, throw away my mind/And it happens all the time.” In these lyrics, she also acknowledges how easy it is for her to fall back into love, even when she knows other factors could never fall into place.
“Easy Lover,” set in between Interludes 1 and 2 is a more funk-pop track with a groovy piano and drum instrumental. Cyrus’ vocals are sexy, with a slight rasp and swagger. In the second verse, she admits to wanting to give herself over completely, despite knowing the danger: “You’re a wildfire, mmh, and I'm in your path/I’ve decided I wanna keep on dancin' in the ashes/And so I call out, ‘Let it burn’.” In this case, she would rather give everything than let love slip through her grasp.
“Golden Burning Sun” is a drastically different song instrumentally but the lyrics carry the same theme of wanting love over everything else: “I’ll tell everyone you're the only one I want/Can I have you if I never let you down?/You’re the only one under the golden burning sun/Can I have you if I never let you down?” She delivers these delightfully sweet and honest lyrics against a backdrop of spinning, hypnotic, and relaxed instrumentals. Drums in the background offer a laid-back heartbeat and sparkling electric guitar riffs feel like summer and joyful innocence.
photo by Glen Luchford
“Pretend You’re God” represents one last attempt to save the love she wants: “In my dreams, I see your face/It hits me like a thousand trains/I don't wanna wake up if you're gone.” Her vocals are more distorted and echo through an easy combination of drums, cinematic strings, and tangy electric guitar riffs. Up until this track, Cyrus has acknowledged that the love she wants might not be the best love for her, but this song reflects a small break, a crack in the glass to try again.
“Reborn” and “Give Me Love” bring the album to a satisfying conclusion and round out the themes of love Cyrus has navigated and reflected upon throughout each track. “Reborn” re-introduces a kind of religious metaphor that Cyrus only hints at in other tracks. “Give Me Love” brings the religious symbolism home through the lyrics and a mystical and heavenly instrumental background: “So I'll say my goodbyes to the earthly delights/While my perfect eden goes down in flames/I’m eaten alive by the mouth of a monster/While fearlessly callin' out your name.” Again, Cyrus acquaints love to being thrown into a fire, and then re-emerging as someone new, but not entirely different. “Reborn” is a beautiful meditation on the sheer power that love holds, consuming us and yet freeing us all at once: “In my dreams, I see you standin' there/You’re all alone (Oh)/We both run away forever (Let's be reborn)/Never comin' home/In my dreams, I see you standin' there/You’re all alone/We both run away forever (Let's be reborn)/Never comin' home/Reborn, reborn/Let’s be reborn.”
With Something Beautiful, Cyrus has elevated her songwriting and production skills to deliver an album that speaks to love in a positive and reflective tone. Having navigated stardom her entire life, Cyrus is no stranger to the spotlight and the inherent scrutiny that comes with it. Something Beautiful proves that she has found the light through the darkness and has emerged a stronger artist because of it.
