End of the World When I first heard about Miley Cyrus’ plans for her ninth studio album to be loosely inspired by Pink Floyd’s The Wall, I was immediately excited about the premise. Something Beautiful is an ambitious take on experimental music, and was promoted with a complete visual companion to coincide with the record as well. While I was expecting a big rock record similar to the style Miley Cyrus went for on her excellent Plastic Hearts album, this album leans much closer into the pop realm with only splashes of bombastic rock. The set was co-produced by Cyrus and Shawn Everett (Kacey Musgraves, The Killers), and this album has a nice sheen to it that plays out well from front to back, and still challenges listeners to take deeper dives on subsequent spins. Miley Cyrus sounds like a million bucks in her vocal approach on key singles like “End of the World,” while she ultimately comes up a little short in her ambitions for creating the next “classic.”
The album starts off with a spoken word track of “Prelude” that sets an eerie tone for the record, as Miley Cyrus shares poetry about the fleeting moments of capturing beauty in this world. It’s basically a long-winded way of saying that beauty is short-lived, yet if you know where to find it, it’s ultimately worth the hunt. The jazzy (at first) title track follows the introductory song with Cyrus flexing her vocal prowess all over the song before she turns the track on its head with a huge power chord from an electric guitar to allude more to her Pink Floyd ambitions. The song quickly gets back to the pop-infused jazz after the instrumental breakdown, while Cyrus continues to captivate in her vocals.
The album’s best song follows next in the sequencing with “End of the World,” the lead single from Something Beautiful, and it features subtle nods to classic rock with the second verse of, ” Let’s spend the dollars you’ve been savin’ on a Mercedes-Benz / And throw a party like McCartney with some help from our friends / Yeah, let’s go down to Malibu and watch the sun fade out once more / Show me how you’d hold me if tomorrow was comin’ for sure.” The song is pure pop bliss and it hits its lofty intentions in the shimmering chorus that begs for prominent placement on the radio.
Cyrus follows this great song with “More To Lose,” a vulnerable song that feels like the logical follow-up to the standalone single of “Used To be Young.” In one of the verses, Cyrus dabbles into creative lyric writing as she explains in the second verse of, “The TV’s on but I don’t know / My tears are streaming like our favorite show tonight / Memories fade like denim jeans / I try to chase when you’re running through my mind / ‘Cause, god, you’re looking like” while still remaining grounded in her goals for finding true love in this world. The first of the two Interludes comes at a strange time in the set, as it breaks up some of the momentum gained early on in the album. The dance-y trance song didn’t do much for me, but luckily she gets back on track with the cool groove found on “Easy Lover.” It reminded me a lot of the style of Stevie Wonder’s classic of “Part-Time Lover,” with equally pleasing results. The second Interlude follows this song, and it again feels a bit unnecessary in the album sequencing.
”Golden Burning Son” starts off the back half of the record on the right foot as Cyrus swoons on the chorus of, “You’re the only one / Under the golden burning sun / Can I have you if I never let you down? / Surrender,” to explain her current relationship. “Walk of Fame” features a great cameo from Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard who helps accelerate the dancehall track to the finish line with spiraling vocals. It plays out much like a Lady Gaga type of song, and it hits all of the desired pop checkpoints. “Pretend You’re God” gets a bit lost in the shuffle with the starry-eyed ballad lyrics of, “In my dreams I see your face / It hits me like a thousand trains / I don’t wanna wake up if you’re gone / Do you still love me? I gotta know / Never mind, just keep it quiet if you don’t / Do you still love me? I gotta know.” Her quest for love is relatable, and makes her just as human as the rest of us.
”Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” features another guest spot, this time from Naomi Campbell, while the two vocalists trade vocal spots in an attempt to one-up each other in their approach. My needle moves closer to Cyrus’ side as she dominates her vocals throughout the song and commands with great presence. “Reborn” stumbles a bit out of the gate with its near-spoken initial vocals before getting into a dance groove in the middle section of the song. It didn’t do much for me in the late moments of Something Beautiful, but “Give Me Love” does a better job of closing out the ninth chapter in Miley Cyrus’ discography.
Miley Cyrus set her sights sky high on Something Beautiful and as the saying goes, “Aim for the moon, so even if you miss, you’ll end up in the stars.” Miley hits more than she misses, and this ambitious take on experimental pop is a commendable effort that demands to be absorbed as an entire work of art, rather than the sum of its parts.