ALBUM REVIEW: MILEY CYRUS & HER DEAD PETZ

Fresh off her hosting of the MTV VMA’s this past week, Miley Cyrus once again found a way to shock us, this time without any nipples involved, dropping a new album out of the blue only accessible via her website and SoundCloud. I know what you’re asking yourself- Miley has a SoundCloud?

Miley is certainly one who doesn’t like to live by the world of boundaries, and she’s holding to that musically this time, as she worked closely with Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips to deliver a more spacy, experimental, somewhat throwback, but very original album that proves once again why Miley should not be overlooked as a recording artist in a year when indie songstresses are overpopulating the pop charts.

The twenty-three song album showcases Miley’s experimental side as she gets away from the FM friendly song style that has made her famous up until now. What really stands out is Miley’s very honest and organic style of singing throughout the album. You don’t hear a lot of fine-tuned autocorrect, but rather, curious and sometimes depressing vocal performances on ballads like “Something About A Space Dude,” “Pablow The Blowfish,” and “Karen Don’t Be Sad.”

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The true gems on the album may feature in the hauntingly power ballad “Cyrus Skies,” which slowly builds to the climatic chorus featuring the lines “I’ve been alive / but I’ve been a liar.” The other is the “BB Talk” which ironically enough, has Miley talking with each verse and featuring a killer 90s hip-hop style of chorus, which actually may be the best showcase of Miley’s singing ability on the album.

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For those of you who still love Miley’s raunchy, no-fucks-given lyrical content and lifestyle, don’t worry there is still plenty of that across the album, especially in the opener “Dooo It!”