Miley Cyrus is in her new era - and her “genre” is personal. With her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, Miley has found her most honest form yet – and it’s not bound to one genre or costume or character type – it’s about baring her innermost feelings, openly processing life experiences like her divorce from Liam Hemsworth, and expressing all this without hiding behind any mask or preconceived sound. Here’s our take on the hidden messages of Endless Summer Vacation, the new “Miley era,” and why it pays to drop genres and personas to get personal.
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Miley Cyrus is in her new era - and her “genre” is personal. The 30-year-old pop star who broke through as squeaky-clean Hannah Montana is the queen of reinventing herself. Whether it’s with the infamous foam finger, cool country covers, or loud and leather-clad, she’s repeatedly reintroduced herself to us with new aesthetics, new sounds, and a new attitude. But with her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, Miley has found her most honest form yet – and it’s not bound to one genre or costume or character type – it’s about baring her innermost feelings, openly processing life experiences like her divorce from Liam Hemsworth, and expressing all this without hiding behind any mask or preconceived sound
Miley Cyrus: “it’s kind of a concoction of all of the best of those sounds that I’ve tried out. I’ve been calling this album the Cinderella Shoe because it’s just a perfect fit” - Disney+ Backyard Sessions
Here’s our take on the hidden messages of Endless Summer Vacations, the new “Miley era,” and why it pays to drop genres and personas to get personal.
Miley Cyrus is having a renaissance. Miley’s first single off her new musical era, “Flowers”, smashed records - debuting at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and remaining there for 6 consecutive weeks, and topping Spotify as the biggest week in the platform’s history.
On top of its catchy melody, and instantly memorable lyrics referencing her ex, “Flowers” feels like a rebirth for the pop-star. The buzz around her self-love anthem started with Miley’s promise of a “New Year, New Miley” at her New Year’s Eve Party, and she delivered - setting the tone for an album filled with themes of growth, self-discovery, and reclaiming love in its many forms.
Many fans were also pulled in by Flowers’ apparent messages to her ex-husband, and hunted to find hidden meanings in its lyrics, the music video, and even release date. The lyrics center on the message that she doesn’t need her former man to buy her flowers – and the video shows her dancing around her villa solo as she sings about the ways she’s better at loving herself than he was.
Miley Cyrus: “Can love me better, I can love me better baby” - Miley Cyrus - Flowers
Miley makes it clear this is about Liam when she says they “Built a home and watched it burn.”Fans know that she and her ex literally lost their home in a fire, but this also acts as a metaphor for her resilience to start over after losing her marital home. Many fans also noticed that Miley uses the chord structure and lyrics of Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” and interpolates it to tell the story of a woman who comes out of heartbreak stronger. Some sleuthing fans even believe that Liam once dedicated this song to Miley.
But underneath all these details and clues, what’s left are lyrics of acceptance, and even forgiveness. Whereas Bruno Mars lists the things he wishes he’d done differently in a relationship, “Flowers” introduces a new maturity to Miley’s lyrics as she expresses these themes of maturity and acceptance reappear throughout Endless Summer Vacation, while also providing specificity about Miley’s life both as an artist, and as a person.
Miley Cyrus: “ if you’re close to me and you listen to this album, it sounds like a conversation with me… It really represents who I am.” – Disney+ Backyard Sessions
In “Jaded”, the second track on her album, Miley apologizes to her former partner and wishes that they weren’t feeling lonely or negative about their experience together. Mixed with a mellow surf-rock sound we haven’t yet heard from Miley, this reflection feels as laid back as the swirling guitars accompanying her.
But “Muddy Feet” also seems to suggest her ex-husband could have cheated. Miley sings to a lover dragging dirt into her life, smelling of perfume she didn’t purchase, and telling him to get out of her house and her life.
While she growls over Sia’s driving synth pop beats, she takes a moment to reason with herself, saying that “Worthy arrives when the other door closes.” – expressing that she trusts that the love she’s worthy of will come if she ends this relationship that she’s struggling with.
But Endless Summer Vacation isn’t just about emotional maturity: it’s also stacked with dance pop floor-fillers, anthems about sex, and falling head over heels in love. Just as the flowers video shows Miley in her house going from day to night, she describes creating an album that’s meant to feel like a complete day: waking up in the morning with hopefulness and…
Miley Cyrus: “a buzz and an energy, a potential for new possibilities”- Disney+ Backyard Sessions
You can hear Miley’s “morning time” on tracks like “Rose Colored Lenses,” where she wishes to hold onto the perfect moment in a relationship when it’s fresh and new, as well as tracks like “You,” where she sings about being wildly and fully herself with a partner.
Then the album shifts into the “night” tracks where Miley celebrates the “slinky seediness” of getting into trouble and going out. Proving that she still “can’t stop” Miley delivers on songs like “River” which gives her fans a dance banger that she describes as “f**cking nasty”.
The night is also for “recovery and rest” which Miley uses to reflect on bigger concepts like fame, and the distance she keeps to keep herself safe, like in the soft contemplative track “Island.” By setting up this sequence in her album to capture the sequence of a full day’s emotions, Miley can approach a wide variety of topics in a way that feels like she’s being reborn but also not artificially limiting herself to one mood or takeaway.
Miley’s tried on many personas, whether it’s the “wild child” breaking out of her Disney star box twerking at the VMA’s, the flower child looks of “Younger Now” or the glammed out rocker vibes of “Plastic Hearts”. Every album cycle seems to coexist with a new way Miley wants the public to see her.
Miley Cyrus: “I think Endless Summer Vacation represents my fearlessness when it comes to experimenting not just with my sound but also with my identity and the way I want to be seen…” – Disney+ Backyard Sessions
Endless Summer Vacation’s sound pulls from every “era” of Miley, while stripping back the aesthetic she puts on. Her looks in the “Flowers” music video are a far cry from the days of mouse onesies and grills of Can’t Stop… but she’s also not making a conscious decision to distance herself from her hip hop influences or create a “clean girl” persona the way she was criticized for doing in her “Younger Now” era.
In her new music video “River,” Miley stands strong in just a black mini dress, making her dance moves and lyrics stand out. And in Flowers she’s working out in simple lingerie, drawing attention to the exercise moves. Even though her looks are stripped back from the heavy glam rock eyeshadow she could be seen in during her Plastic Hearts era, she is still showing her skin, bearing her tattoos, and dancing freely.
Her visuals for this album represent the theme of the album: like the trapeze on her cover, it takes hard work and strength to overcome her past relationship, but now she’s having a well-deserved fun, summer vacation.
And Miley choosing to release a visual companion to her album on Disney+ is a full circle moment. Maybe she’s not wearing a blonde wig and glittery cowboy boots, but she does honor her Hannah Montana start by including The Climb as a performance in the special. Miley has always let fans into her life with her “Backyard Sessions” since 2012, and over ten years later from her first cover of “Lilac Wine” by Elkie Brooks, she’s letting fans into the process for her entire album.
Miley even acknowledges her habit of reinventing herself in the past, saying that “boredom for an artist can feel like torture,” but for this era she’s going back to the love of songwriting as her aesthetic, and not taking herself too seriously.
Miley Cyrus: “...doing it for the reason I started writing music. Because I love it. Beginning and End.” – Disney+ Backyard Sessions
It can be hard to believe that the same artist who released the bubble gum pop hit “Party in the U.S.A.” also sang about “tryna get a line in the bathroom” over 808’s and dirty synths Can’t Stop only four years later. Miley revisited her country/ singer songwriter roots with “Younger Now,” and most recently leaned into a glam rock sound, belting on tracks with electric guitars along with icons like Joan Jett and Billy Idol, while covering classics like “Zombie. “
Miley changes her sound like she changes her mind, and she likes it that way! But what makes Endless Summer Vacation such a unique departure for Miley, is her ability to combine all of the influences from each genre she’s found success in, creating an album that is uniquely hers.
Miley Cyrus: “it feels like it’s only mine and it could only be mine.” – Disney+ Backyard Sessions
In “Thousand Miles” featuring singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, early in the album might seem like a straightforward country song at first — even including the visual lyrics of Miley driving around town. But taking a closer listen, past Brandi Carlile’s soaring harmonies, and the driving acoustic guitar you’ll hear a pop drum machine and synths, creating a sonic soundscape somewhere between Miley’s “Younger Now” days, and the pop hits of “Bangerz.”
It’s not every artist who would pair Nashville sweetheart Brandi Carlile with Mike WiLL Made-It on the same song. And while fans may hear country influences in the vocals again on tracks like “Wildcard” where she sings “But don’t forget, baby, I’m a wildcard” she also uses her “Plastic Hearts” toolkit when belting out the power-ballad, “You.”
You can even hear traces of the Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz experimental era coming to play on tracks like “Handstand,” featuring a writing credit from filmmaker Harmony Korine, where she speaks over a cinematic soundscape. The song then turns into a melodic lofi mantra that fans can sing along with.
By mixing all of her past selves into one, Miley sounds more authentically herself than ever.
Without the labels or pressure of cosplaying “a stoner”, “a rocker”, or “a country girl”, Endless Summer Vacation focuses on Miley’s journey as a musician and a person. By foregoing one genre and style completely, she has made it her most honest lyrically, unique, and grown-up yet.
Endless Summer Vacation Miley proves that energizing, and fresh pop music can be made by getting personal instead of putting on a costume. But with each song Miley shows her fans that all of these personas made her who she is today.
Sources
Johnston, Maura. “Miley Cyrus Sums up Everything She’s Great at on ‘Endless Summer Vacation’.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2023, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/miley-cyrus-sendless-summer-vacation-1234692905/.
Legaspi, Althea. “Miley Cyrus Ushers in 2023 with New Song Announcement.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 1 Jan. 2023, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/miley-cyrus-announces-flowers-song-new-years-eve-party-1234654923/.
Lipshutz, Jason. “Miley Cyrus’ ‘Endless Summer Vacation’: All 13 Tracks Ranked.” Billboard, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.billboard.com/lists/miley-cyrus-endless-summer-vacation-album-songs-ranked/flowers-demo/.
Spanos, Brittany. “‘Endless Summer Vacation’: What We Learned from Miley Cyrus’ Sharpest, Most Independent Album Yet.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/miley-cyrus-endless-summer-vacation-reaction-1234694050/.