Miley Cyrus: Endless Summer Vacation

Harmony Korine, Tobias Jesso Jr., BJ Burton, Brandi Carlile, Sia, Bibi Bourelly, James Blake, Greg Kurstin, and more contributed to Cyrus' follow-up to ...

Published by: MCEO Publishing (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. by Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing (BMI)/Songs Of Universal, Inc. o/b/o itself, Aidenjulius Music, and Pineapple Lasagne (ASCAP)/ James Blake Publishing Designee o/b/o itself and Sounds From Eardrummers LLC (ASCAP)/EMI April Music Inc. Published by: MCEO Publishing (BMI) / WC Music Corp. o/b/o itself and Sounds From Eardrummers (ASCAP) Published by MCEO Publishing (BMI) / Universal-PolyGram Int. Published by: MCEO Publishing (BMI) / EMI April Music Inc. Published by: MCEO Publishing (BMI) / Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. She closed out 2022 as the host of her own New Year’s Eve special on NBC, which featured guest appearances from [Dolly Parton](https://pitchfork.com/news/miley-cyrus-and-dolly-parton-perform-new-years-medley-watch/) and [David Byrne](https://pitchfork.com/news/david-byrne-and-miley-cyrus-cover-david-bowie-new-years-celebration-watch/). In [an interview clip](https://twitter.com/MileyCyrus/status/1632810833339113473/) she posted to social media, Cyrus said the record is divided into halves that loosely represent daytime and nighttime. She also covered Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” for the collection [The Metallica Blacklist](https://twitter.com/jackantonoff/status/1633172277910024194).

Miley Cyrus returned in a massive way with "Flowers," and now the chameleonic singer has more emotions to share on her "Endless Summer Vacation" album.

[ crumble in the quiet](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/11/23/miley-cyrus-opens-up-sobriety-slip-up-two-weeks-sober/6396462002/). The most unique offering on the album carries a vague Caribbean lilt along with a luxurious chorus (“Am I stranded on an island, or I have I landed in paradise?”). vibes.](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/miley-cyrus-endless-summer-vacation-two-parts-am-pm-1234691644/) “River,” the seventh among 13 tracks on the album, feels like the changeover. 1 since “Wrecking Ball" a decade ago) with her [“who needs you, anyway, buddy?](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/12/04/miley-cyrus-opens-up-sobriety-relationship-liam-hemsworth/3823018001/)” anthem, Cyrus, 30, has dropped a full slate of emotionally seesawing songs. But Cyrus’ vocal, which starts off hushed, climbs to a pained peak and then plummets to soft hoarseness, pointedly capturing the melancholy and the strength. [the chameleonic singer](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/03/05/miley-cyrus-talks-playing-hannah-montana-disney-identity-crisis/4597789001/) returned to the charts in a massive way (six weeks at No. It’s a sweaty dance floor banger filled with glossy synths that would have made “Ray of Light”-era Madonna proud. But only with the very specific “you.” Cyrus is undeniably besotted – and unapologetic – while she unspools various scenarios (crashing a wedding, provoking a fight merely to make up “on the floor of your room”). This seductive swayer is the ultimate Cyrus offering. Sure, she knows whatever this is probably won’t last (“let’s just keep pretending”), but her yearning is real. As Cyrus sings, “I told myself to close that door, but I’m right back here again,” her awareness is palpable. The only quibble is the electronic vocal effects on the fadeout, which distract more than court intrigue.

The strength of Cyrus is suiting her mighty voice to so many styles.

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.” 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. 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. In any case, no one can predict what the hyperactive social media platform will latch on to next. 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. [Miley Cyrus](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/miley-cyrus-billy-ray-cyrus-grammy-los-angeles-montana-b1066192.html) album is guaranteed to be a huge hit.

'Endless Summer Vacation' may appear subdued by her standards, but it remains remarkably intriguing. Read the NME review.

The infectious second single ‘River’, which Cyrus has described as “dancefloor banger” with “nasty” lyrics, feels like a relative of her [Stevie Nicks](https://www.nme.com/artists/stevie-nicks)-inspired hit ‘Midnight Sky’. Cyrus has called ‘Endless Summer Vacation’ her “love letter” to LA, the city she moved to as a teenager when she landed her career-launching role in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. Cyrus is a straight-talker who is normally game for a laugh on the promo circuit, but since co-hosting a televised New Year’s Eve special with her godmother [Dolly Parton](https://www.nme.com/artists/dolly-parton), she has kept a curiously low profile and even stayed quiet on social media. If ‘Flowers’ finds Cyrus rebuilding herself after a break-up – “We were right ’til we weren’t / Built a home and watched it burn” – then the album feels like a messier, more complex extension of this process. [Harry Styles](https://www.nme.com/artists/harry-styles)‘ producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, climaxes in a psychedelic swirl that sounds like something from ‘Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz’, the experimental 2015 album she made with The [Flaming Lips](https://www.nme.com/artists/the-flaming-lips). [Miley Cyrus](https://www.nme.com/artists/miley-cyrus)‘ eighth studio album arrives on a cloud of mystery, which is unusual for an artist who isn’t exactly the shy and retiring type.