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.”

2020 really is the year of the female artist, isn’t it? From Taylor Swift releasing arguably releasing the most pandemic-appropriate album we could have ever hoped for, to Dua Lipa knocking us on our ass with some perfectly crafted dance-pop bliss, and Phoebe Bridgers earning several well-deserved Grammy nominations for her work, everything seemed to be shifting towards rightfully recognizing female artists for their contributions to music. Enter Miley Cyrus who has delivered a raucous collection of rock-tinged pop songs known as Plastic Hearts to close out the year. Usually albums released this late in the year fall under the radar, as every publication seems to want to rush out their year-end lists before December even sees the light of day. Plastic Hearts is definitely one of those breathtaking moments of recognizing great pop music from an artist beginning to realize her rock prowess at just the right time.

The record launches with the bratty, punk sneer of “WTF Do I Know” where Cyrus establishes herself firmly in the rock genre with a pulsating bass line and cranked up guitars. Cyrus explains her state of mind in the chorus as she sings confidently, “What the fuck do I know? I’m alone / Guess I couldn’t be somebody’s hero / You want an apology not from me / Had to leave you in your own misery / So tell me, baby, am I wrong that I moved on and I / And I don’t even miss you? / Thought that it’d be you until I die / But I let go, what the fuck do I know?” The track quickly fades away as we make our way into the title track where Cyrus sings over a tribal beat. She provides a little more insight on the change in gears of genres on the second verse as she sings, “Hello, I’ll tell you all the people I know / Sell you something that you already own / I can be whoever you want me to be / Love me now but not tomorrow / Fill me up but leave me hollow / Pull me in but don’t you get too close.” It’s almost as if Miley is telling her audience that she can be whatever persona that best suits her metamorphosis into a female rocker as long as we are there to accept her for who she is.