That may seem like a bold statement, but she’s got
everything going for her. She’s got the voice. She’s got the controversy. She’s
got the punky “I don’t give a sh*t” attitude. And as much as her music is smothered
in whacky ideas, she at least has an artistic vision. She’s even got morals and opinions: as an advocate for gay rights, she launched a charity for homeless
LGBT people and was joined on-stage at the VMAs at the weekend by a whole host
of drag queens.
In many ways she’s the new Lady Gaga – bold, sexy, and
slightly strange. She even has a similar voice. Yet there’s one key difference
between them, one key element that Cyrus is missing. And ironically it’s the
name of her last album.
Bangerz.
Excluding her earlier work (Party in the USA and The
Climb are certified hits), more recently Cyrus hasn’t established herself
with a string of hit songs in the same way as her peers. We Can’t Stop may have hit the top of the charts in the UK, but
Cyrus is capable of delivering far better material. As for Wrecking Ball, the strength of the song itself was obliterated by
the meme-worthy video. The rest of ‘Bangerz’ was just too generic and far less
subversive than her performances had led us to believe.
Enter ‘Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz’, a new album she “Beyoncéd”
after hosting the VMAs. It’s an album that only somewhat addresses these
issues.
Created in conjunction with Wayne Coyle from The Flaming
Lips and produced by Mike Will Made It and Oren Yoel, it’s a wildly
experimental selection of twenty three tracks. Psychedelic, kaleidoscopic and
just plain weird, there are moments of brilliance as Cyrus explores a variety
of genres and musical avenues. Some tracks are short snippets and focus on a
single idea, like Fuckin Fucked Up, I’m so Drunk and Miley Tibetan Bowlzzz. Some of the best tracks feature other
artists, from the strange and eerie Tiger
Dreams featuring Ariel Pink, to the subtly hip-hop influenced Tangerine featuring Big Sean. Some
tracks (as you might expect) are highly sexualised, most notably the funky,
sexy pop of Bang Me Box. Others are
just…odd (Pablow The Blowfish I’m
looking at you).
It is, however, wildly inconsistent. The variety of styles,
tones, and sounds – it simply doesn’t flow as a complete album. Where some
songs are upbeat bordering on typical pop, others are influenced by R&B
jams, others are melancholic ballads, and others still are elongated guitar-based
songs that simply bore (Karen, whoever you are, you need to cheer the hell up).
It’s as if Cyrus has experimented in the studio and just dumped them on the
internet without much thought.
The biggest issue, though, is the same lack of bangerz that
we had before. None of these tracks are likely to make singles, let alone top
ten hits. Intriguing they may be, but without a hit Cyrus is unlikely to find
herself at the top of the pop pile where she belongs.
There’s one final point with ‘Miley Cyrus & Her Dead
Petz’, however. Its’ free. Released on her own Smiley Miley Inc company rather
than RCA Records (presumably it’s a bit too experimental for a major release),
this is clearly a stop-gap album that hints at what the future may bring us.
And in that regard, Cyrus deserves respect for this release. She’s a pop artist
who is willing to push the boundaries, not only in terms of visuals,
performance and controversy, but (finally) with her music. Let’s just hope that
inevitable forthcoming major label release has the bangerz she (and we)
deserve.
3/5
Gizzle’s Choice:
* Space Boots
* Bang Me Box
* Tangerine
Listen: ‘Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz’ is available now
on SoundCloud.