Miley Cyrus has absolutely nothing to show, however when has that ever stopped her?
The chameleonic pop star is back with her most bold album yet, Something Gorgeous (out now on Columbia Records). It’s more bodacious than Bangerz and, sometimes, even wackier than Miley Cyrus & & Her Dead Petz, which is an accomplishment in itself.
However the vocalist, 32, does not go balls to the wall simply for kicks; she has a natural impulse to challenge herself, to keep her fans on their toes and to commemorate the legends who led the way.
This time around, Cyrus takes it back to the late ’70s and early ’80s, transforming a classic age specified by flashing Europop and operatic psychedelia. She goes complete ABBA on “End of the World,” a luxe earworm that would be the tune of the summer season had Girl Gaga not jam-packed Trouble with practical prospects, and makes disco eager beaver Donna Summer Season happy with “Every Woman You have actually Ever Enjoyed,” on which supermodel Naomi Campbell provides a scrumptious spoken cameo that remembers Madonna‘s “Style.”
Not all of Something Gorgeous is radio-friendly, however– not that Cyrus, the hitmaker behind “Flowers,” “Damaging Ball,” “Celebration in the U.S.A.” therefore numerous other international smashes, requires to deal with anybody at this moment in her profession. (Plus, who still listens to the radio in 2025?)
The title track begins as a slinky, emotional ballad before taking off into its speculative rock chorus with deafening and distorted vocals. It’s the most disconcerting thing to come out of the provocateur’s mouth considering that her tongue-wagging days however, thankfully, just a short lived minute of insanity.
The back half of the album is where Cyrus truly shines. The almost six-minute thumper “Reborn” swells and swells and swells up until it can’t potentially get any larger, and the even-longer stunner “Stroll of Popularity” is indisputably the best dance cut in her extensive brochure.
It took the Recording Academy almost twenty years to offer Cyrus her very first Grammy (justice for 2020’s Plastic Hearts!), however with an album like Something Gorgeous putting her in the very same discussion as pop greats, she might wish to make some more space on her awards rack.
3 stars (out of 4)
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