Rating: 3/5 stars
Miley Cyrus is a changed person. She will be the first one to say it. Long gone are the days of dreadlocks, twerking and experimenting with whatever drugs she could get her hands on. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter from Franklin, Tennessee, has just released “Younger Now,” her sixth studio album, and in it, she gets rid of her tried-and-failed hip-hop persona. Instead, she traces her roots back to Nashville and returns to her original, stripped-back, country-pop aesthetic.
Along with the change in her sound, Miley appears to be cleaning up her act. In an interview with The Sun, Miley states that she has been “sober for weeks” and that she was focused on keeping a “clear head” when working on her new project.
To anybody who was unfortunate enough to listen to her last full-length record, “Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz,” it is obvious that keeping a clear mind is very important to the quality of her music. “Younger Now” is a tribute to the rich history of country music, and it is when Cyrus truly puts her songwriting skills to the test.
She writes about things that are personal to her: close relationships, hopelessness and the importance of change in her life. On this project, more than anything, Cyrus is looking to tell her audience that what she is doing is truly authentic. “Lyrics are very sacred to me,” she said in an interview with Grammy.com. “I want them to understand that this record is really all the truth, from me.”
The opening track is an airy, light-hearted country-pop ballad, where Cyrus sings about her struggles to find herself in the music scene she had been embroiled in since she was 16. “What goes up must come down,” she repeats, reeling herself back in from all the chaos that she Ratinghad surrounded herself in for years. “Malibu” follows up the opener as another dreamy, atmospheric country tune that was the first of the two singles dropped before the release of the album. It did not climb the Billboard charts as high as her previous singles (it peaked at No. 10), but is a much easier listen compared to tracks that performed much better like “Wrecking Ball” and “We Can’t Stop.”
The gently strummed guitars on “Malibu” mark a strong contrast to the dense, electronic beats that dominated those earlier hits. Dolly Parton co-writes on “Rainbowland,” an absolute giant in the country music world and somebody that Cyrus has looked up to since she was a kid.
It has all the Southern twang and charm of an average Dolly Parton song, with clips of Dolly and Cyrus talking about creating music in the beginning and end. It is a heartwarming tribute, but sadly ends up sounding cheesy and outdated, making it something that is not worth playing over again.
“Younger Now” is a welcome change in pace from her previous releases, but ultimately ends up sounding rushed. With Cyrus admitting herself that she was not even halfway done with the album when the original singles were put out, it feels like the project was pushed out the door before it was ready.
The result was destined to be polarizing. Some of her fans will absolutely love it, while others (especially her younger fans) will get turned away. With the concept of the album being so strong, it is frustrating to think about what a couple more months of work could have done.
Photo provided Miley Cyrus Vevo via YouTube.com
