Miley Cyrus Announces New Album

By Lauren Shook

On Aug. 20, 2015, Miley Cyrus announced the release of her new album titled “Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz.” Cyrus revealed that her album was available online for free streaming following her hosting of the drama-filled MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

Cyrus’ new album consists of 23 songs. These range in length from “I’m So Drunk,” which lasts a short 46 seconds, to “Tiger Dreams,” which is almost six minutes long.

Tracks vary in composition from high-tempos with a thumping baseline to slow ballads featuring a piano as the main instrument.

Big Sean, Sarah Barthel and Ariel Pink are among the artists featured on the new album. Mike Will Made-It, best known as a hip-hop producer, also contributed to several songs.

Cyrus’ album “Bangerz,” which was released in 2013, had a wildly different theme than her most recent release. Whereas “Bangerz” had a large hip-hop influence, “Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz” feels much more psychedelic.

The songs range in meaning from lost relationships to the vastness of the universe. One song, “The Floyd Song (Sunrise),” was written in memory of Cyrus’ deceased three-year-old Alaskan Klee Kai. Despite this song dedicated to her dog, many of the others on this new album are either hyper-sexual or about her many experiences with drugs.

While various listeners can likely relate to songs about love and lust, many of the tracks on this album contain obscure metaphors that are probably difficult for the general public to understand.

“I feel like a slab of butter that is melting in the sun” is one of these lyrics.

This phrase appears in several tracks from this album. It first appears in a verse in “Milky Milky Milk,” then reappears in the very next track which is not surprisingly named “Slab of Butter (Scorpion).”

These, along with songs titled “Something about Space Dude” and “Space Boots,” all have a comparable feeling to them. The melodies are drifty and the lyrics are sung in a slurred style.

Upon first hearing a song like these, it could sound really unique, different and even entertaining. But when a majority of the songs sound identical, they tend to lose what curiosity they had originally mustered.

Flaming Lips singer, Wayne Coyne, has also been spending a lot of time with Miley Cyrus.Cyrus is featured on two of the tracks from the Flaming Lips’ album “With a Little Help From My Fwends,” released in 2014. His influence can undoubtedly be found in “Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz.”

Fans who follow Cyrus on Instagram have likely been seeing various posts of the two collaborating on other songs for the past few months. Not unexpectedly, the recent contents of Miley’s Instagram accurately mirror the songs on her album.

Overall, the album sure is different than anything Miley Cyrus has released in the past, and anything currently played on the popular radio stations. If you are interested in having a listen, you can live stream the album for free at MileyCyrusandHerDeadPetz.com.