Miley Cyrus is no stranger to evolution. Since her 2013 album Bangerz finally freed her from the stranglehold of her early Disney image, every subsequent release has been an experimentation in genre and form, often to varying degrees of success. Where Bangerz felt like a raucous celebration of breaking away from the prescribed notions of who people think you are, her other albums — particularly Younger Now, Plastic Hearts, and Endless Summer Vacation — lacked the same raw and rebellious attitude. The songs, for the most part, lacked intensity and excitement, too, which illustrated a problem brewing for a while: Producers and record companies didn’t seem to have any clue what they were supposed to do with Cyrus’s unique (and immense) talent.
Cyrus can sing, of course, but it’s the way she wields the dark-timbred, raspiness of her voice that has always set her apart in the pop landscape, even if some of her music fails to meet the occasion of her pipes. That particular quality comes from Reinke’s edema, a condition that arises from overuse of the vocal cords, which Cyrus has learned to harness into the ultimate musical sleight of hand: You might not be vibing with the song, but you’re always going to stay to hear that voice.
After over a decade of trying to figure out where and how that voice and her incredible dexterity as a performer should be utilized, Cyrus’s new album Something Beautiful finally provides a place for all her skills to be showcased wholly. It also proves a worthy representative of what she’s truly capable of and what shape her career will take in the future. The album was written and composed by Cyrus and a cast of musical powerhouses across almost every genre you can think of, including Jonathan Rado (Foxygen), Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, Perfume Genius, etc.), Maxx Morando, Molly Rankin and Alec O’Hanley (Alvvays), Adam Schatz (Landlady), Tobias Jesso Jr., Kenny Segal, Pino Palladino, Brian D’Addario (Lemon Twigs), Cole Haden (Model/Actriz), Danielle Haim, Flea, Andrew Wyatt, Nick Hakim, and Bibi Bourelly. Something Beautiful sees Cyrus playing with genre and form again. Only this time, Cyrus finally decided to risk it all.
And it paid off. This her best work to date and might be the album that finally cements her legacy in the annals of pop super-stardom.
In the press leading up to the album’s release, Cyrus stated several times that along with being her best album yet, Something Beautiful would also be her “gayest.” I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. Cyrus does identify as queer and has consistently shown up for the LGBTQ+ community in various ways through performances and philanthropic efforts like her Happy Hippie Foundation. But I wasn’t convinced she was going to fully lean into writing about queer thoughts or relationships or construct musical narratives that would highlight the joys and challenges of being a queer person. Sadly, I was right about that.
Despite this, Something Beautiful is testament to the power of an artist finally fully coming into her own. And you know what, it actually is her “gayest” album ever…in the sense that queer people are absolutely going to eat this shit up.
With that in mind, I thought we’d have some fun and rank the 10 full-length tracks by how likely they are to be blasted by one of the thousands of gay DJs performing at Pride parties and gay clubs this month and over the rest of the summer.
10. “More to Lose”
It is so interesting how this is one of the most conventional tracks on the album but also one of the best. “More to Lose” is a straight-forward, piano-driven power ballad reminiscent of some of the biggest hits of the 1980s that narrates the grief that comes when a relationship has tragically ended. Not only does it feature some surprising turns in terms of composition (you’ll never expect what they do with the saxophone here), but it puts Cyrus’s vocals to work in a way no other song on the album does. Although it’s a gorgeous track, I think this one is best fit for the comedown at the end of the night.
9. “Something Beautiful”
As the title track on the album, you’d think it would be in the top three but, unfortunately, I don’t think this one will be as easily embraced as others. Wildly operatic in its composition that blends R&B, hard rock, and experimental jazz with bursts of distortion from electric guitars and a saxophone that feels like it could rip right through you, the lyrics of “Something Beautiful” find Cyrus unable to control her desires for the subject of the song. The ferocity of the yearning here does feel pretty queer, but I think you’re more likely to bop to this in the privacy of your car on the way to the club.
8. “Pretend You’re God”
Even though the title speaks to a high level of possibility in the Going Feral department, the song is decidedly less fierce (and less hot) than the name implies. Studded by steady percussion and, at times, grungy and glittering synths, “Pretend You’re God” features some of Cyrus’s most diverse vocal exercises on the album and touches on the need to be taken care of mentally, emotionally, and sexually. For sure one of the sexier tracks on the album, but unlikely we’ll hear it on the dance floor.
7. “Give Me Love”
This is one of the most confounding tracks here, and I think its reception will suffer from the choice of its placement as the closing track. Technically, it doesn’t really say much — instead, it relies on ornamental instrumentation and a dreamy, baroque composition that still makes way for Cyrus’s mezzo to soar through it. You can’t really dance to this track on its own, but I feel like it’s campy enough for someone to get away with playing at the end of their set.
6. “Golden Burning Sun”
This is one of the more conventionally ardent pop tracks on the album, though there are some lush compositional flourishes throughout. I can see it playing on the dance floor during one of the slower moments, but more specifically, I can see the gays latching onto this in a similar way they did Beyonce’s “Halo” — by screaming at the tops of their lungs to each other after a few drinks.
5. “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” (featuring Naomi Campbell)
Evoking one of Cyrus’s heroes, Madonna, “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” is a disco-tinged, electronic track with synthy house flourishes that are reminiscent of The Queen of Pop’s late-90s and early-2000s hits. The beat is quicker, more percussive than a lot of the other tracks. It features a back half designed for the dance floor, which certainly adds to its club banger potential. And the theme of the song — sticking up to someone repeatedly taking advantage of you — and Naomi Campbell’s emergence as the voice of reason also help in that arena.
4. “Easy Lover”
The 1970s country-rock, Dusty Springfield-Fleetwood Mac cool of this song, plus Brittany Howard’s signature funk-forward guitar playing, provide a truly fun listening experience and make this track one of the best songs on the album. A song about the addictive quality of a toxic relationship is likely relatable to all kinds of people, but I just feel like queer pop fans are really going to embrace it. Undeniably danceable with lyrics simple enough to remember after a couple of listens, “Easy Lover” would have Song of the Summer potential if people still cared to classify tracks that way.
3. “End of the World”
A horny, 1970s Euro-pop, synth-heavy track about fucking and finding joy in all the little pleasures of being in love despite the horrors in front of us? Yeah, I think a lot of gay clubs — particularly in Florida and California — are going to wear this one out.
2. & 1. “Reborn” & “Walk of Fame” (featuring Brittany Howard)
In the last three days since the album came out, I’ve struggled to figure out which one of these should be first, because they both just feel primed for playing loud in the club and dancing to with complete surrender. These were two of the tracks I was most excited to hear on the album because they sound so hi-NRG — a subgenre of electronic dance music that was popular in gay clubs in the 1980s and 1990s — to me, and I just haven’t heard anyone playing with EDM rip from the hi-NRG playbook like this.
“Reborn” is a sexy, pulsating, melodramatic Euro-disco anthem about falling deeply in love and wanting to keep the feeling alive at any cost. “Walk of Fame” recalls Sylvester, Grace Jones, and some of the most popular mid-80s new wave tracks in its composition. Like its inspiration, it’s not just disco-tinged new wave by way of its fiery synths and pounding drum machines — it has an edge that draws you in and grabs hold of you. And that’s saying nothing of its cunty, screamable lyrics: “I walk the concrete like it’s a stage / Every time I walk, it’s a walk of fame.” You know this one is going to be played out.
Something Beautiful is out now. The Something Beautiful visual album will be released theatrically in select cities on June 12.
