Miley Cyrus turns country balladeer in new album
NEW YORK: She transitioned from wholesome TV kid to media sensation — and now Miley Cyrus is reinventing herself again.
On “Younger Now,” the sixth album in her already storied career, the 24-year-old dips back into country — the music of her father, singer Billy Ray Cyrus.
But the album, which was released Friday, is despite its oxymoronic title no straightforward return to her childhood — or the innocent days of her country-singing “Hannah Montana” Disney persona.
Instead, Cyrus finds through country storytelling a window to relay a maturing life story of discovering love, heartache and a political voice.
“Younger Now” begins with a title track in which Cyrus declares she has no regrets over a scrutinized life.
“I’m not afraid of who I used to be / No one stays the same,” Cyrus sings, adding: “I feel so much younger now.”
On the title song and the album’s first single, “Malibu,” Cyrus crafts a modernized take on 1970s pop-rock, a gentle electric guitar riff carrying a midtempo beat.
“Malibu” climaxes into the most rocking track on the album, a beat coming in after Cyrus describes a journey of building trust and love on the sun-kissed California beach.
By the third track, “Rainbowland,” she goes full country — collaborating with fellow Tennessee-born cultural figure Dolly Parton.
However sensational her onstage antics or divisive her artistic choices, critics of Cyrus are hard-pressed to dismiss her voice, whose rich timbre and four-octave range make her one of the more versatile singers in pop.
Much of the lyricism appears to reflect on Cyrus’ on- and — now reportedly — off-again relationship with Australian actor Liam Hemsworth.