“I have the artist torture thing going on, too, where I’m a little conflict-seeking because it’s creative. I like to feel sad sometimes. And I like to feel happy. I really like to feel. It’s inspiring to me.”
Listening to Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts for the first time breathed new life into my soul. Days after her 28th birthday, Miley Cyrus released her seventh studio album, Plastic Hearts. The album’s dance-rock drums, gritty guitar riffs, and raw lyrics transported me to the glittering 80s. Miley’s voice on this album took me by surprise and made me respect her even more for her ever-changing vocal repertoire.
Much of the album was shaped by big moments in Cyrus’s life like her divorce from actor Liam Hemsworth, as well as the loss of her house in a California wildfire and her struggles with addiction.
The opening track “WTF Do I Know” sets the tone for this album with some funky bass, intense electric vibes, and potent vocals. One cannot help but beat your feet and sing (or scream) along to the song. It’s definitely a hit when it comes to music you want to blast in your car. The lyrics on the album often allude to her failed relationship with ex-husband Liam, and some of the animosity between them following the split. Despite the failed relationship, Miley seems to have moved on with her life like the phoenix she is.
Next, we flow into the jaunty pop-rock tune, “Plastic Hearts” which paints a picture of late-night rendezvous with too much to drink and being surrounded by strangers who you love now, but not tomorrow. A Backyard Session version of this song on Apple Music was released which is well worth a listen.
The third track titled “Angels Like Me” is rumoured to be about Miley’s ex, Kaitlynn Carter, and is a pure belting tearjerker love ballad. The music video for “Angels Like Me” was recently released in which Miley is dressed in her Super Bowl pre-game concert look, with a bedazzled black and pink jersey and the shoulder pads she rocked during her TikTok Tailgate show in Florida.
The video contains footage of Miley lying in a field, chilling backstage and belting the tearjerker in front of a crowd of fully vaccinated, mask-wearing healthcare workers and other frontline workers, and ends with a special handwritten note from the singer; “we all look forward to being together again and this can happen sooner than we may have thought with vaccines becoming more available. Each of us can help stop the pandemic by being vaccinated. Together we can make the experience of live music a reality again.”
The album also features a few other famous voices, including Dua Lipa on the track “Prisoner” which is both risqué and sensual and oozes female sexuality. Punk rocker, Billy Idol also makes an appearance on the album on the dark and synthy track “Night Crawling”. American rock legend Joan Jett features on the track “Bad Karma” which according to Miley was inspired by the tracks “Cherry Bomb” and “Bad Reputation.” The final appearance on the album is that of Fleetwood Mac‘s Stevie Nicks on the track “Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix)” which mashes up Miley’s ‘Midnight Sky’ with Stevie’s seminal track ‘Edge of Seventeen’.
The track “Midnight Sky” is the album’s crowning glory. Its synth-pop(py) rock sound and independent and self-confident lyrics are enough to bring the free-spirited and unconstrained side out of anybody.
Plastic Hearts by Miley Cyrus showcases her vast and ever-growing talents and brings about a new era of rock that refuses to be ignored.
Image source: Rolling Stone
FreeLoveLiberation 