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Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful review – solid pop that’s about as ‘psychedelic’ as a baked potato
The singer’s ninth album has grand ambitions but – despite some sparkling songcraft – falls short of its mind-altering promises and the hits that made her a star
Cyrus also has form for announcing releases that don’t quite fit their initial billing: 2017’s not-actually-very “country” album Younger Now; 2020’s Plastic Hearts, which presented itself as new-wave rock, with guest appearances from Joan Jett and Billy Idol and its logo borrowed from shock-rockers the Plasmatics, but turned out to be all over the shop stylistically. The synths sound edgy, the choruses stick, there’s a smattering of knowing period details (Syndrums, sampled orchestral stabs), and it’s a delight to hear Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes repurposing her voice as a stentorian Grace Jones-y roar on Walk of Fame. If the rest of the album steadfastly fails to make the listener vibrate at a different level – it’s all about as psychedelic as a baked potato – and you struggle to identify any kind of concept, it’s still all very well written and well made, a varied succession of good vehicles for Cyrus’s powerfully raspy voice.
Or read this on The Guardian
