A Chaotic Shift

I don’t care what anyone says: there is no such thing as a bad album, only a misunderstood one. The tenth studio album “Bass Persuades” by MILEY, better known as Miley Cyrus, is a diverse, ambitious pseudo-rock album that confirms Cyrus’ status as an all-timer in the industry. The album is another solid addition to the expansive MILEY discography and a quick follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2025 release “Something Beautiful.”

The synth-pop instrumental of the title track and lead single “Bass Persuades” immediately sets the tone of the project: a fun, mature take on love, centering on MILEY and her fiancée, Maxx Morando, one of the producers on the album. Track two, “Different Religion,” featuring the first of two collaborations with rock band Model/Actriz, offers an unconventional but well-executed contrast between Cyrus’ raw, melodic vocals and the deep, intense vocals of the band's frontman, Cole Haden. Easily the best song on the album because of its contrast from her usual pop sound, “Different Religion” delves into the thematic core of this project: individuality and raw human emotion. 

However, one significant drawback of MILEY’s music is that she rarely sticks to the same sound across an entire project, even if that sound is really working. The first two tracks are a fantastic beginning to the project, but, in typical MILEY fashion, the album begins to die a slow death after them.

“Orbit,” while a good, heartfelt song, is an absolute vibe killer. The track is a slowed, piano-driven romantic ballad, which at this point in the album, doesn’t make any sense. It's a sharp, jarring mood shift that isn’t merited ten minutes into the album. If this were placed towards the end, it would make more sense — the reflection and gratitude after the long, hard journey being a classic motif of an album as an artist begins to wrap it up. I applaud taking the risk; however, this was not the execution that I hoped to hear. 

The album tries to pick back up with “Aftermath” and “REDLIGHTS,” but the energy and general vibe of the songs are unable to match that of the title track and “Different Religion.” The shift is essentially just as jarring as the previous one and contributes to the lack of cohesion of the project as a whole, even though those two songs are very strong. In contrast, the three succeeding tracks, “Neon Signs,” “Innocent Ways” and “Snow,” are extremely forgettable and lackluster. I would have preferred if she had reworked them or scrapped them altogether because I haven’t been able to identify their purpose on the album without reiterating identical themes to earlier tracks. 

The final curveball of the album is a remix of the title track, titled “Bass Persuades Remixx,” featuring Model/Actriz again. A completely unnecessary alteration of “Bass Persuades,” it replaces the synth-pop instrumental with a more electronic, industrial one. The vocal style contrast that worked so well in “Different Religion” did not have that same effect in this remix and was another unneeded tone shift. As a result, this led to the album being detached from the core of the album and didn’t allow for true closure to “Bass Persuades.”

Surprisingly, for an artist rumored to be headlining Coachella and the Super Bowl Halftime Show, this album has not done well commercially, nor critically. The entire album debuted with 6.2 million streams on Spotify. This may sound like a lot, but for reference, her single “Flowers” did 7.71 million, marking a significant drop-off in what appears to be demand for a MILEY album in 2026. This occasionally chaotic album does not deserve to be instantly forgotten, nor the victim of critic bashing, and I hope people give it a second, or realistically a first, chance.

Overall, I would say this album is decent; if it ended after “REDLIGHTS” and was just a six-track extended play (EP), it would’ve been near-perfect. The first two tracks are a fantastic beginning to the project, and if that sound had continued across the album, it could’ve been in the running for the elusive “album of the year award,” but, in typical MILEY fashion, the album begins to die a slow death. I will definitely return to songs like “Different Religion” and “Bass Persaudes,” but I hope that for MILEY’s next album campaign she sticks with the same sound across the entire project, even if it means a longer wait between albums. At her best, MILEY is a generational talent. This album has flashes of that, but across the entire record there are noticeable weak points, risks that paid off and risks that didn’t.