Something Beautiful by Miley Cyrus // Album Review
Something Beautiful, Miley Cyrus' "one-of-a-kind pop opera" fully defies modern pop conventions and sets out to create something completely singular in her discography. With an emphasis on high fashion, as well as avant-garde storytelling and aesthetics, this project brings her artistry to new heights. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, Miley described this album as "...hypnotizing and glamorous. It's a concept album that's an attempt to medicate somewhat of a sick culture through music."
Coming off her massive 2023 album, Endless Summer Vacation, Miley earned her biggest commercial success yet - which was a rare and impressive achievement after nearly twenty years in the industry. "Flowers" was the defining song of that year, and she ended up winning her very first Grammy for it as well. With that momentum, Miley easily could have capitalized on the success of "Flowers" even further by making another relatively safe, radio-friendly pop album, but instead chose to take a bit of an artistic detour with Something Beautiful.
One thing has always stood true about Miley as an artist - she never does the same thing twice. She's no stranger to experimentation or stepping outside the norm to create something bold and unexpected. Even though it may not come close to the commercial success of her previous record, it was very clear that this was not at all the intention behind making an album like Something Beautiful now at this point in her career. Her willingness to take big creative risks is truly what has always made her remain one of the most enduring voices in pop music. By rejecting predictability and embracing a more expressive and conceptual path, she has chosen creative freedom over commercial success - which is an approach Miley said she is going to continue to take with future releases too. Something Beautiful feels like the album she has always wanted to make, in a way that feels very reflective of her own personal style and influences for the current chapter of her life.
The production is so lush and expansive, truly shaping the essence of the album. Miley worked on with a wide and eclectic mix of musicians that helped bring the vision to life. She executive produced it alongside Shawn Everett, with additional production by her partner Maxx Morando, Jonathan Rado, Michael Pollack and many others.
Something Beautiful draws from hypnotic, psychedelic rock production that heightens its cinematic qualities. Every element is so deliberate and detailed, making it such an immersive listening experience all the way through. Alongside the music, which is inherently theatrical and grand in its narrative scope, Miley also released a short-film to accompany the release, which brings the music to life in such a unique way.
"The visual component of this is driving the sound. It was important for me that every song has these healing sound properties," Miley continued in her interview with Harper's Bazaar. "The songs, whether they're about destruction or heartbreak or death, they're presented in a way that is beautiful, because the nastiest times of our life do have a point of beauty. They are the shadow, they are the charcoal, they are the shading. You can't have a painting without highlights and contrast."
Something Beautiful begins with a spoken word introduction titled "Prelude", which delves into existential themes that will go on to be reflected in the rest of the album's storyline. The instrumental accompanying it is also so haunting and ethereal, which further amplifies the weight of her words. "Like when following an image from a train, your eyes can't keep the passing landscapes from being swallowed into endless distance," she says in the opening lines. "Like when holding a fistful of ashes, your hands can't save the things that have already been dissolved into air". She closes with a line that feels like the thesis behind this album, "But the beauty one finds alone is a prayer that longs to be shared".
"Prelude" then transitions into the album's title track, "Something Beautiful", which is an absolute masterpiece that takes so many turns throughout. It starts as a stunning ballad that then builds into an explosive, layered, multi-genre epic that is unlike anything Miley has ever made before. I love that she went into this with the intention of making an experimental rock album, it's long overdue and truly where she shines the brightest. Her vocals on this track in particular are some of the best of her entire career, which is perfectly complimented by the grandeur of the production.
The album then takes a glittering turn into "End of the World", which is such a glam 80's pop track that is so vibrantly written and produced. It's bold and radiant, but grounded in the idea of wanting to live for the moment because tomorrow isn't guaranteed. It is full of some of the best lyricism of the entire album, I especially love the playful reference of wanting to "throw a party like McCartney with some help from our friends". "End of the World" feels like a culmination of everything Miley has made thus far, it is such a beautiful song. "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," she sings in the stunning bridge, "Hold me close, you know tomorrow isn't comin' for sure".
The sound once again pivots into something slower and more introspective with the gorgeous ballad "More To Lose". It feels like a really natural sonic progression from albums like Endless Summer Vacation and Plastic Hearts, especially considering a lot of the conflicting feelings of heartbreak that made up those two records and the phase of life she was in at the time while making them. "On a song like 'More To Lose' I try to keep it a singular take. Add my harmonies, or adlibs at the end but it's really a song that’s more of a story and I never want that to be interrupted or overthought or chasing perfection," Miley said in the commentary for the album. "I never wanted 'More To Lose' to feel perfect, I wanted it to sound meaningful and emotional."
"'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," she sings. It is full of emotion, as she looks back on a relationship that is now over, but she didn't think that it would be over so easily. "And you say it, but I wish it wasn't true, I knew someday that one would have to choose," she sings in the chorus, "I just thought we had more to lose".
"Easy Lover" continues to lean into the dreamy genre-blurring approach, which mixes a cool blend of rock, jazz, and pop all at once. It's built around the idea of a complicated "love I always needed", while capturing this all-consuming intensity of this connection that is impossible to ignore. "You're a wildfire and I'm in your path, I've decided I want to keep on dancing in the ashes, and so I call out, 'Let it burn'", she sings in the second verse.
The song was originally written during the Plastic Hearts sessions, but it has evolved a lot since that time. In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Miley ended up pitching this song to Beyoncé in 2021 when she was working on Cowboy Carter, imagining the chorus to be able to fit into the country style she was looking for. They ended up collaborating on a different song called "II MOST WANTED" and Miley ended up re-working this track to fit with the style of Something Beautiful instead. If you listen closely to Miley's ad-libs in the pre-chorus, you can still hear her say "Tell them, Bey" in the background - which is such a subtle nod to the journey this track has taken over the past six years.
Miley's inescapable star power takes center stage on "Walk Of Fame". It is one of the album's most cinematic and evocative highlights, turning her personal ethos into a glam pop spectacle. "Every day, every night, it's all the same, hungry cries are callin' out my name," she sings in the opening verse, "You beg me to stay but I walk away, every time I walk, it's a walk of fame". It radiates so much confidence and theatricality in a way that doesn't feel performative at all, because Miley truly is just such a star. She has this attitude of being able to turn her everyday life into a performance - "I walk the concrete like it's a stage", she sings.
The song also features Brittany Howard, who played a significant role in shaping the overall sonic direction of the album through her guitar work, but her contributions to "Walk Of Fame" especially elevate it to a new level. It is simply so transcendent and truly an all-time career highlight for both of them. Miley has collaborated with so many iconic, legendary artists throughout her career, but this is truly the best duet she has ever released. Brittany's verse at the end is such a standout moment with how poignant and poetically it is written. "You'll live forever in our hearts and minds, an ageless picture, a timeless smile, we'll wear it on our T-shirts, a star buried in the pavement, everyone will walk around it, around it".
That imagery of a timeless Hollywood star, and all the symbolism used throughout this song, feels reminiscent of the messaging behind the 2024 film The Substance, especially in the way Miley repeats "You'll live forever" over and over at the end. The commentary on fame, celebrity, and legacy becomes a poignant representation of both the preservation and impermanence of stardom. It captures how fame can both immortalizes someone, while also revealing how easily that same spotlight can fade over time.
"Every Girl You've Ever Loved" further amplifies the same glamorous, high-fashion fantasy of "Walk Of Fame". Supermodel Naomi Campbell features on the track with her spoken word interludes throughout the chorus and the bridge, which elevates the runway vibe to a new level. "She never wears a watch, still she's never late, she's got that kind of grace," Naomi says in the bridge, "Did Botticelli paint her face?"
Something Beautiful is also full of so many stunning and romantic odes that standout as defining moments of the record. "Golden Burning Sun" in particular is so lush instrumentally and vocally. This song has such a beautiful and sincere sentiment behind it, "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", she sings in the chorus. The theme of surrendering to love, despite the future being uncertain, is one that recurs throughout the album and this song captures it in such a gentle yet powerful way.
"Pretend You're God" is another breathtakingly romantic moment on the record. The chorus alone is such a standout, both lyrically and sonically. "Hold me in your arms, pretend that you're God, recreate the stars for me, one by one," she sings. The psychedelic production is so expansive and ethereal, with the guitar work especially sounding so layered and atmospheric.
There are quite a few tracks on this album that stretch out to nearly six minutes long, which is an aspect of this album that Miley and her collaborators executed really well. In an era of music that is largely focused on chasing virality, with Something Beautiful Miley sets out to create something that embraces the sonic storytelling and expanded listening experience of hearing a full body of work from beginning to end. The album's penultimate track, "Reborn", continues to follow many of the same luxe and cinematic qualities of the rest of the record. "If heaven exists, I've been there before" she sings in the euphoric chorus. It is just so Miley - confident, empowering, glam and radiating so much of her personality within the performance. The spoken-word outro is especially transcendent; "Could you give me all of your love if I break away any bodies between us? Would you promise that I'm enough if I give you all of my love?"
"Give Me Love" feels like the perfect song to be playing during the closing credits of this album, both literally and metaphorically. It perfectly ties together all of the themes of Something Beautiful, like a reflective, cinematic epilogue. She worked on this song alongside producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, who were her main collaborators on Endless Summer Vacation, so it is likely that this was leftover from those album sessions. Her vocals sound stunning throughout this entire album, with such a strong, effortless quality to her performances that's especially present on this closing track.
It is also one of the best and most vividly written songs on the album, as she drew inspiration from Bosch's triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights and tells the entire story of that painting throughout the song. "I imagine a place at the dawn of creation, a cityscape we paint in the dark, there's a castle between this obscene blue horizon, where golden apples hang in the trees and a bare lady sings, behind the curtain, heaven awaits", she sings in the stunning opening lines. The grand orchestral production beautifully compliments the story behind the song as well.
"I realized that I mostly write songs about myself and I learned as much as I could about the painting and then I put all these details so everything that I'm actually saying in the song is factual in regards to the painting," Miley said in an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music. "It was commissioned for the St. John's Cathedral, the fountains that, you know, they father these swans by the lake, this orb, everything is actually factual about this because it was just a little challenge of myself of can I write something that is not about myself and then you know, given my nature, the third verse is about me."
She closes the album with the most stunning verse, "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".
Thanks for reading! I have written about the rest of Miley Cyrus' music many times over the years, check out my reviews of Endless Summer Vacation, Bangerz, and SHE IS COMING - many more are linked below and coming soon!
Endless Summer Vacation by Miley Cyrus // Album Review
Miley Cyrus' Highest Streamed Songs: Ranked // Spotify Billions Club
Comments
Post a Comment