Miley Cyrus Announces New Album “Plastic Hearts”

The popstar enters airwaves with her take on classic rock

Miley Cyrus is one of those celebrities who has lived a thousand lives. From her legendary stint as international popstar, Hannah Montana, to the unfortunate performance which ultimately broke her Disney-manufactured image, Cyrus continues to capture audiences’ attention.

Her vocal range and control allow her to flex in and out of a variety of musical genres, while her electric stage presence attracts listeners from all walks of life.

The monumental success of “Hannah Montana” as both a television and musical enterprise pushed Cyrus into the public sphere. The show ran on Disney Channel for five years and has consistently ranked as one of the highest-rated Disney shows of all time.

Cyrus was credited for soundtracking both the first and second seasons of “Hannah Montana”; the second soundtrack was also released alongside her debut album, “Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus,” which shot to Billboard’s number one slot and cemented Cyrus’ status in the industry.

After Hannah Montana came to an end in 2011, Cyrus directed her attention towards acting, notably picking up the lead role in Disney’s adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks classic, “The Last Song.”

But she didn’t stay away from music for long, returning to airwaves with her fourth album, “Bangerz”—a collaboration between Cyrus and Southern hip hop producer, Mike WiLL Made-It, who brought a distinctive trap beat to each song. Coupled with features from the likes of Big Sean and Future, the sixteen-track project was Cyrus’s attempt to combine her powerful lyrical ability with hip hop aesthetics.

“Bangerz” was a pivotal album in Cyrus’ career as the project allowed her to explore a sexually open side of her personality that was suppressed during the Hannah Montana years. However, in its entirety, the album sounds disjointed—almost as if Cyrus isn’t fully comfortable in the character she is playing.

After a few years away from the music industry’s spotlight, Cyrus surprised fans with her newest single, “Midnight Sky.” The song pivots away from the innocent images of heartache and partying we hear on “Bangerz” to speak about Cyrus exploring her sexuality and finding peace in being single.

The Blondie-inspired track is a clear indication that Cyrus has entered a new phase in her musical journey, marked by her focus and confidence.

“Midnight Sky” also acts as Cyrus’s introduction to classic rock. The production easily highlights her natural talent and supports the singer’s mature vocals that have always set her apart from her peers.

Cyrus released the single alongside a self-directed music video, which combines her playful personality with her newfound rocker persona. The track and its accompanying video rose through the charts, and audiences were quick to praise Cyrus.

Her newfound rock and roll persona feels familiar to fans, despite her legacy in the pop music sphere.

After the success of the single, Cyrus performed for several virtual award shows, and released recordings of her famed “Backyard Sessions” performances, with covers of classic hits from The Cranberries and The Velvet Underground.

With a striking rendition of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass,” performed for the virtual iHeart Radio Festival this year, Cyrus proved that her transition into rock music was a natural evolution of her own musical interests and her personal image.

Rock has opened a space for Cyrus to explore her sexuality and femininity in a way that pop was unable to do. Pop, in and of itself, kept Cyrus tied to her teenage self, making it difficult to grow up and into her womanhood.

The band’s frontwoman, Debbie Harry, credited Cyrus with making the song “uniquely hers.” Harry also took to Twitter to let followers know she thought Cyrus had “nailed it.”

Cyrus’s rendition of Blondie’s 1970s hit nearly broke the internet, and industry followers and music-lovers alike predicted that her next album would resemble the rock classic.

All signs point to this being true, and the album will come sooner than expected.

Cyrus formally announced the release of her seventh-studio album, “Plastic Hearts,” on Nov. 27.

In a lengthy Instagram caption, Cyrus revealed that she had started the album over two years ago.

“Thought I had it all figured out. Not just the record—its songs/sounds but my whole fucking life,” she wrote. “No one checks an ego like life itself.”

She went on to explain that losing the home she shared with her ex-husband to the Malibu fire in 2018 was the reason for the album’s extended timeline.

Yet the fire was also a catalyst for Cyrus’ shift in sound.

“Just when I thought the body of work was finished, it was all erased. Including most of the music’s relevance. Because EVERYTHING had changed,” she continued. “Nature did what I now see as a favor and destroyed what I couldn’t let go of for myself. I lost my house in a fire but found myself in its ashes.”

Throughout her time in the limelight, listeners have watched Cyrus grow into her maturity, both in her personal life as well as her music.

Cyrus’s evolution positions her as a vision of classic rock’s past, though her image in “Plastic Hearts” will likely not be the last version we see of her. Making this album seems to have unlocked a piece of Cyrus’s heart that she has been waiting to share with her fans for many years.