Miley Cyrus just sounded the alarm bells. New music is almost here. Back in 2019, the original plan was to release 3 EPs: She Is Coming, She Is Here, and She Is Everything. The trio of short projects would be combined to create her 7th studio album, but so far we’ve only gotten She Is Coming. However Miley’s social media posts last night suggest new music is arriving sooner than we think. #ButForRealThisTime
The throwback clip posted to her Twitter and Instagram accounts was just the right amount of nostalgia to get her fans buzzing online. People my age will remember that music video plastered all over the commercial breaks on the Disney Channel — every hour, on the hour, if not more frequent. “Start All Over” was one of her very first singles released under her real name vs. the Hannah Montana moniker, off her debut album Meet Miley Cyrus.
It’s a brilliant wink to the camera from Miley. We’re about to Meet Miley Cyrus (…again) in the form of a rebrand for her next album, and she’s teasing that reinvention with a throwback to the fan-fave song about starting from scratch. Perhaps that track’s been serving as the theme to her personal life? As I mentioned, part one of the project was released as planned in May 2019, but by the summer she was announcing her separation from Liam Hemsworth, after tying the knot the previous Christmas. Add in surgery for tonsillitis and a separate vocal chord issue late in the year, and the album rollout fell apart. But now she’s getting ready to celebrate one year with boyfriend Cody Simpson, and she’s been focused on new material.
Miley says the new stuff is sounding “super rock and roll,” and I’m kind of digging the snippet she shared on Instagram Live. Anything would be an improvement from her last album, 2017’s Younger Now, with that “Malibu” snooze inspired by her 2016 reconciliation with Liam Hemsworth. Let’s blame him for being a terrible muse. “Malibu” kicked off a very different era for Miley that saw a stripped-down aesthetic and sound, and just like Lady Gaga’s stripped down Joanne era a year prior, it was a commercial flop. We were missing the intrigue, the shock value, the essence of why we came to love Miley. Earlier this year, Gaga found success returning to her dance-pop roots on Chromatica, so let’s hope Miley’s new beau, Cody Simpson, serves as better inspo. I’m still waiting for her to match the artistic and commercial success of 2013’s Bangerz — which remains in heavy rotation in my music library.
No word yet on when #SheIsComing but iHeartRadio announced Miley will headline their annual televised iHeartFestival this September, alongside acts like BTS and Coldplay. The pieces of an album rollout are starting to fall into place, and I have a feeling our pop music provocateur is packing a punch this time.
