Miley Cyrus is reborn…for the seventh time in her career. The pop-star is no novice to reinvention, every two to three years we are presented with the latest character she has to offer. In her latest effort to stay on top, the singer stepped into her “rock era” yet somehow pulled an Ashley O on us.
‘WTF Do I Know’ opens ‘Plastic Hearts’ with an underwhelming rock chorus that is more reminiscent of Fall Out Boy than Fleetwood Mac and sets the tone of what’s to come.
The third song on the album ‘Angels Like You’, is a rousing ballad that opens up a more vulnerable side of Cyrus that we’re used to seeing in her music. Despite it being some of the best songwriting on the album, the track was easily lost in the noise and felt more like an interlude to ‘Prisoner’.
Cyrus teamed up with British Royalty Dua Lipa on ‘Prisoner’ and paid homage to Olivia Newton-John’s classic ‘Physical’ to give us a disco-punk anthem that saved the album. This heartache hymn is a display of female empowerment that left us yearning for the dancefloor.
“Yeah, it’s been a long night and the mirror’s telling me to go home, but it’s been a long time since I felt this good on my own”. Cyrus proclaims her independence above a hard-hitting retro beat in ‘Midnight Sky’. Despite the glossy eighties sound the song steers clear of cliché. “I don’t need to be loved by you” she states as fact for all to hear.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Cyrus broke the internet with her cover of Blondies’ 1978 ‘Heart of Glass’. Debbie Harry’s iconic, soft and dreamy vocals on the original song were arguably unbeatable. Somehow Cyrus’s raspy tone rooted in her country background created something daring and nostalgic, worthy of its 45 million streams on Spotify.
The artwork, features and covers on Plastic Hearts feel more like Cyrus cosplaying Blondie, trying to revive an unbeatable era of music. Overall, it’s a good pop album with some rock influences. See you in three years for the next chapter, I’m taking bets on what’s next. Did someone say K-Pop?
Text by: Vanessa Valentine
GEM Magazine 