A new Miley Cyrus album is always an event. Ten albums into an ever-changing career in pop, she’s shown she can surprise us, delight us, make a huge hit, or make something weird — and you never quite know which Miley you’re going to get. That’s part of the fun. She’s said she worked quickly when she was recording her latest album, Bass Persuades, which arrives slightly less than 18 months after 2025’s Something Beautiful. So what’s it like? Here are our first reactions after taking a spin through these 10 adventurous tracks.
“Bass Persuades” Was a True First-Single Fakeout
Miley has been doing this for long enough to know what kind of lead single will get an album off the ground. “Flowers” got so big it eclipsed the rest of Endless Summer Vacation (a fair trade for her first Grammy win). But “Bass Persuades,” the opening and title track of her latest LP, hit reset in a more misleading way. The track is built around the defeated sentiment that “the kids don’t wanna dance” — rich coming from an artist who avoids the stage like a plague despite being one of the most charismatic performers we have. “Bass Persuades” diminished a lot of faith in the record for some fans, but don’t be fooled. Bass Persuades is so much sharper than its lead single let on. —Larisha Paul
The “Dead Petz” Era Rises Again
For so many of us Miley fans, one of her peaks is her 2015 space-rock opus Miley Cyrus & her Dead Petz, where she got heavily into the prog side of her artistry. It’s an album unlike anything else in her catalog: She teamed up with Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips to float off into her own corner of the galaxy, as she mourned her late dog Floyd and her late blowfish Pablo in lava-lamp headphone classics like “Something About Space Dude.” She hits these heights again in “Orbit,” floating over the Pink Floyd-style synths for a psychedelic prayer to orbit you forever. Despite the Dead Petz ambience, she swerves back into a down-home country twang to sing this one, which somehow makes it trippier. Somewhere in the cosmos, Aunt Dolly is damn proud. —Rob Sheffield
Miley Has Seen the Light of Her Own Religion and It’s Awesome
A reading from the Book of Miley, who has a lot to say about her latest divine revelations in the album highlight “Different Religion.” This fantastic 2002-vintage electroclash bombshell opens like Black Sabbath circa “Iron Man” swerving into Duran Duran circa “The Wild Boys,” with the electro-distortion going into the red until everything sounds like broken glass. Miley proclaims the gospel of some groovy theology, proclaiming “I’ve got my own god! He drives a fast car!” and “My god’s a hot boy!” Model/Actriz join in, with awesomely butch robot commands over the industrial beats. By the end, she’s chanting, “Losing our innocence/Give in to sin again/Take it to Genesis/We’re gonna begin again.” It’s a new religion where God is basically the same thing as having sex with a squadron of tanks while it grinds you into the dust. Let us pray. —R.S.
Miley Knows Her Noise Rock
And can we just take one more beat to appreciate Miley’s excellent taste in Brooklyn noise bands? Model/Actriz are the coolest of the cool, and hearing her tangle with guitarist Jack Wetmore’s ice-pick riffs and frontman Cole Haden’s pitch-dark purr on “Different Religion” is a pure joy. Haden loves a pop diva — “I’ve always been fascinated by that symbolic power,” he told RS in 2023 — so you know he had fun duetting with the woman who made “See You Again” and “Flowers.” The members of Model/Actriz are credited for instrumental contributions to several other tracks on Bass Persuades, too. Walking into a club where these guys are playing is an electric thrill — running into them on a Miley album might be even better. We can’t wait to see what happens when these rebel hearts come together onstage at the Hollywood Bowl next month. —Simon Vozick-Levinson
Maxx Morando Is Behind the Boards Once More
Since Miley and her fiancé Maxx Morando began dating in 2021, they’ve also been working together on her music. Morando, the drummer of alt-rock band Liily and formerly of the Regrettes, co-wrote and produced a couple of tracks on 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation. He went on to work on half of Something Beautiful, and now, he’s produced all but two tracks on Bass Persuades (coincidentally, the two tracks that are most definitely written about their relationship). In an interview with Zane Lowe, Miley said she appreciated Morando’s “genreless flow,” which was shaped by growing up on Migos. “He understands the blur that I like to live in when it comes to music,” Miley added. —Maya Georgi
“Neon Signs” Proves That Romance Is Not Dead, It’s Just Kinda Disturbing
Miley sings a love ballad with Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow, and it’s arguably both the creepiest and most sensual moment on an album with plenty of both. They duet on a fractured doo-wop valentine, filtered through the Seventies electro soundscapes of Brian Eno in the mode of his 1975 ambient classic Another Green World. The beautifully spacious production adds Depeche Mode synth burbles, Phil Spector-style girl-group castanets, and piano frills straight off an Abba record. But it’s the voices of Miley and Andrew that make the magic happen here. These two lovers moan, they pant, they gasp, they give each other surreal heavy-breathing pillow talk about tangerines, lotion, and poodle-shaped bruises. Andrew: “I love you, Miley!” Miley: “I love you more!” Andrew: “Some people say I’m creepy, but others think I’m just right!” Miley: “No, you’re perfect!” Andrew: “You are so beautiful…to me!” We’ll have what they’re having. —R.S.
Miley May Have Dropped the Name, But She’s Still a Cyrus
Miley kicked off the Bass Persuades era by ditching her surname — she’s just Miley now. But on the propulsive “Innocent Ways,” the singer proves family is forever as she writes a song for one of her sisters (presumably Noah Cyrus, who is six years younger). Miley is coming from the place of a concerned older singer that’s speaking from experience as she warns about the “fallout from the fame” and offers sage wisdom like “Grace comes with age, but don’t tell her.” It’s one of the most compelling lyrical moments on the record — especially as Miley can’t help but taunt the subject with a reminder of who influenced her love of Blondie. You know, typical sister shit. —M.G.
