Judging by the preamble, the eighth Miley Cyrus album is guaranteed to be a huge hit. Its lead single, Flowers, has been a phenomenon, breaking the record for the most first-week Spotify streams, staying at number one in the US for six weeks and about to secure its eighth week at the top over here.
Latecomers, or anyone who doesn’t do TikTok, might struggle to fathom why there’s been quite so much fuss about the song. It’s an easygoing, old fashioned groove that trundles along without any showstopping moments. When the strings arrive it’s easy to hear its close connection to Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. But its message of resilience has major appeal to the kind of wellbeing influencers who preach self care, plus the fact that it was released on her ex-husband’s birthday permits an intoxicating feeling of being let in on the break-up goss.
In any case, no one can predict what the hyperactive social media platform will latch on to next. Thanks to TikTok users, the single that displaced Cyrus from number one in America is one by The Weeknd that’s almost seven years old. The rest of Endless Summer Vacation should still appeal, though, thanks to a restless roaming between musical genres that means it’s impossible to feel bored.
Cyrus has made an attempt at coherence by dividing the album into ‘AM’ and ’PM’ sections. Unusually, that means the slow ones come first, including the twinkling melody of Jaded, a break-up song where her rocky rasp lets rip on a grandiose chorus. The daughter of Billy Ray and goddaughter of Dolly Parton stays in touch with her country roots on Thousand Miles, a classy duet with Brandi Carlile, and lets that lived-in voice do some more heavy lifting on the piano-led torch song You.
After that comes a woozy wash of synths and some spoken word: “We met each other on the neon dinghy,” says Cyrus gnomically as the electronics become increasingly frantic. It’s a weird one, followed by the thundering acid pop of River. On Violet Chemistry she’s the last one in the club, with a lost phone and no more cigarettes: “When the floor is wet and the lights come on but you don’t wanna leave.”
Things come back around with another one about female strength, Wonder Woman, at the close. The strength of Cyrus is suiting her mighty voice to so many styles, on an album where even those with the shortest attention spans should find a new favourite.
