Album Review: Miley Cyrus Goes Country (Again) on "Younger Now"

Miley brings back the twang on Younger Now, and her voice has never sounded better.

Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift—two ex-country stars, both alike in infamy—are having a transmogrifying moment in 2017.

One is "pivoting back to country" (the 'in' thing for left-leaning musicians seeking to reunite a divided America through acoustic guitars); the other is doubling down on industrial, bondage-themed bangers.

Would you believe Miley’s the one returning to her roots, and Taylor’s the one rapping Right Said Fred-inspired sex anthems? Did they both pee into a fountain during a lightning storm and swap bods?

On Younger Now, Cyrus’ sixth studio album, Miley effectively explains her stylistic shift away from the outsider art of 2015's underrated, weirdcore opus Her Dead Petz with the opening title track. "No one stays the same," she sings. Later: "Change is a thing you can count on." Basically, she’s saying the old Miley can’t come to the phone right now. (Why? Because she, just like her petz, is dead.)

Whatever you thought of her last project, it introduced her as a real artist, unvarnished (with unexpected good taste in collaborators, including, primarily, The Flaming Lips). Younger Now is more of a 'solo' effort, with Cyrus sharing writing and producing credits only with producer Oren Yoel (who was also behind Dead Petz’s best cuts, "BB Talk" and "Space Bootz"). It also puts her characterful and idiosyncratically croaky vocals in the foreground. That’s bad news for Cyrus’ fairy (and literal) godmother Dolly Parton, who blesses Younger Now with the album’s sole guest appearance on "Rainbowland", but is mixed so quietly you'd think she was working on deep background like some kind of covert journalistic source.

It may be jarring to hear 24-year-old Cyrus singing about all her gained wisdom on "Younger Now" (although, you’d probably feel younger now too if you suddenly stopped doing hallucinogens with 50-yer old alt-rock dudes). But she’s always had a knack for cathartic lyrics, from "Wrecking Ball" to "I Forgive Yiew", and “Younger Now” proves to be an emotionally staggering re-introduction.

Admittedly, I didn’t much like first single "Malibu" at first blush. It clicks better when sequenced after the subterranean-sounding "Younger Now" (with its underwater guitars). "Malibu", which remains too much of a 'jig' for my taste, at least now mimics the sensation of cresting on a beach by comparison.

Better tunes come later, like "Week Without You", a cheeky honky-tonk ode to cheating that utilises Miley’s best weapon: her twangy, wavering voice. Other highlights include the disco-cowboy boot-stomp of “Thinkin’” and the jugband bluegrass "Bad Mood", which, just like “Week Without You”, layers Miley’s voice on top of an entire chorus of Miley Cyruses. (What's the correct plural here? Miley Cyri?) She’s never been short of confidence, and here, she’s smart enough to know her best collaborator might just be more of herself.

Cyrus’ long-suffering SNL imitator Vanessa Bayer could barely keep up with her frequent persona-shifts. (Meanwhile, SNL’s Trumps just slid in one direction: meaner, more orange.) Yet one thing that remains is her lust for torch songs, and Younger Now has plenty of those; some better (the fluid "She’s Not Him") than others ("I Would Die for You").

However, it’s the overall cohesiveness that separates Younger Now from everything she's done before. My feelings on Her Dead Petz are well documented; still, at 23 tracks, it’s hardly concise. And Bangerz has true career highlights—"Adore You", "#GETITRIGHT"—sandwiched in-between some of the least listenable music you’ve ever heard (“4x4”). Younger Now always works, even if it isn’t always great.

Normally we’d tell an artist we like to "never change". But no one stays the same, and in Miley’s case, we’re okay with that.

4/5

Younger Now is now available.

Photo: Sony Music