After years of reinvention, Cyrus is settling on her most fitting persona yet
Credit: Miley Cyrus (YouTube.com)
Miley Cyrus is solidifying what feels like her most honest persona yet. After beginning her career as a tween Disney Channel star, she seemed to evolve with every single release. Following her pop country era, she encountered multiple controversies related to lyrical content, sexuality, and cultural appropriation. Some criticisms of course were fairer than others, but one thing remained consistent: negative critical attention. No matter what genre she performed in (or appropriated) she was faced with low scores and controversy. Every album signified a new era, and every era came with a different reason for critical panning.
With such a contentious history between her and critics, it comes as a surprise that the reaction to her latest series of ’80s covers has been one of rapturous praise. Although she’s been performing covers for a while, her performance of “Heart of Glass” from the iHeart festival catapulted her into a level of critical adoration she hasn’t seen before. The online response was enough to lead her to drop the song as a single on streaming the next week. She followed it up with a cover of “Zombie” at a Save Our Stages show, which also quickly landed on streaming services. She’s had articles about her covers written in NME and Rolling Stone Magazine, and piqued excitement for her upcoming album.
The “Heart of Glass” performance began with Cyrus walking out in updated Debbie Harry cosplay. Her black bodysuit, short blonde hair, and sparking bracelets running halfway up her forearms clearly signaled the 80s, even to viewers who may have never seen footage of a Blondie show. The attention to detail in her outfit foreshadowed the care with which she would channel the 80s punk spirit. Walking in front of her mask-wearing band as artificial applause began, Cyrus established her power to her virtual audience. She radiated confidence and swagger, and while it’s understandable to see her and think of the Disney channel star who wrote “Party in the U.S.A.”, any doubts in her ability to channel her punk icon inspiration were crushed once she began belting the opening lyrics.
Her mastery over her low end and vocal growling grabbed attention instantly, and her delight in the performance kept her as that center, dancing and leaning into the mic stand like a captain steering her ship whenever she wasn’t singing. Swinging across the stage in stilettos, she exuded a relaxed confidence, ready to lean back into her belting at any time. While not necessarily making the song her own, she took over the stage and clearly stole the night, confirming her place as a perfect candidate for a modern rock star. By the time the performance ends it’s clear that this headbanging version of Miley is becoming fully realized.
The “Zombie” performance a couple weeks later came with lofty expectations, which Cyrus had no trouble meeting. Draped in a black coat and low lighting, Miley built up the first verse slowly but passionately, reaching a final crescendo and returning to her now trademark belt over a chorus of power chords and drums. By the time she takes off her coat, she’s kicking, jumping, and smiling through a guitar solo, never once losing an ounce of attention. It’s clear that the space is hers and she’s in the perfect place for her skillset. She finishes the performance on her knees, belting riffs that bring the guitars along with her. Praise for this performance on social media was just as rapturous, even if it lacked the surprise felt by many after the iHeart Festival. She seems poised to set up an era of critical acceptance, finally using her voice in the genre it is perfect for. Even with all the skill she possesses and the praise she’s gained so far, it won’t come close to her peak commercial success.
Cyrus has sold over a million copies of her 2013 album Bangerz, and had top 5 hits with “The Climb”, “Party in the USA”, “We Can’t Stop”, and “Wrecking Ball”. The streaming numbers of her recent original single “Midnight Sky” vastly eclipse those of her covers. The disconnect between the critical and commercial reactions parallels reactions that have been constant throughout pop history, and especially the 2010s. Artists such as Charli XCX and Carly Rae Jepsen translated their initial virality into niche, critically successful careers through projects that worked within the cutting edge of pop production, or harkened back to the synthetic sounds of the 80s. Miley could be venturing on a similar path, finding her lane in the rock sounds of the 80s and 90s, abandoning a sound that was of the moment, which doesn’t seem to be where critics wanted it to lie.
This newfound respect for Cyrus is part of a long tradition of critical success for pop artist’s least “pop” endeavors. Most massively successful pop acts of the past decade received lukewarm to negative critical reception on release, even though we think of many of them as hugely influential today. Artists like Justin Beiber, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga dominated the decade with albums critics responded to with a resounding “meh”. Perry’s massively successful album “Teenage Dream” received more articles praising it on its ten year anniversary than it received positive reviews on release. Even an artist like Rihanna who ended up high on many decade-end lists, did it with her least commercially successful album. Artists like Britney Spears, Lorde, and Hayley Williams have spoken about how influential Perry’s work was to their later music, but the influence and success of the album doesn’t change the fact that it was critically panned.
Here is where Cyrus’s issue lies. On the one hand, the praise she has received from critics could be a sign that she has found her genre and is on the road to making the best music of her career, but it could just as well be a response to the fact that a talented artist is singing songs that have been accepted as great for decades. Her performances channeled the original singers without leaving much room for her own identity to break through. They were more reminiscent of a talent show or Voice audition than a career reinvention, an artist proving that she has the talent and just needs the guidance and originality to make it big. The covers were great and fun to watch, and Cyrus is certainly a fantastic performer, but I can’t help but feel like the praise she’s received is a compliment to everything besides her as an artist. People are responding like she’s finally proven herself, as if she didn’t have four top five hits years before any of this. While the performance made me excited to listen to her upcoming album, I hope that her original ideas are approached with optimism by any other new fans she may have garnered from her recent performances. Cyrus also must show that this current era is her authentic voice, and not just another appropriation of artists who have come before her. This shared responsibility between artist and audience of course leans more heavily on Cyrus putting out an impressive album, but her recent performances have proven that she’s capable of making something great.