Miley Cyrus released her ninth studio album, Something Beautiful, on May 30, 2025. The project is made up of 13 tracks and includes a full-length visual film. According to Cyrus, this album is meant to “medicate somewhat of a sick culture through music” using “healing sound properties” that “make you vibrate at a different level.” She has also referred to herself as “a human psychedelic.”
This record follows her 2023 album Endless Summer Vacation, which included the global hit “Flowers,” a track that reached 2.7 billion streams. With Something Beautiful, Cyrus aimed to push further artistically. She described the film part of the project as inspired by the 1982 adaptation of The Wall directed by Alan Parker, though she added that hers has “a better wardrobe and more glamorous.”
Key Takeaways
- Miley Cyrus released Something Beautiful on May 30, 2025, with 13 songs and a visual film that premiered at Tribeca, though the film has no plot despite claims it was inspired by The Wall.
- The album includes major indie collaborators like Brittany Howard, Danielle Haim, and Adam Granduciel, but lacks a clear hit and shifts unevenly between genres.
- Cyrus called it her “gayest” album, launched it during Pride Month and performed it live at a fan-only TikTok event at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.
A Star-Studded Production with Indie Rock Credentials
Cyrus worked with a large group of musicians, especially from the indie and alternative rock scenes. The credits include Jonathan Rado (Foxygen), Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes), Adam Granduciel (The War on Drugs), Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Nick Hakim, Danielle Haim (Haim), Molly Rankin and Alec O’Hanley (Alvvays), and Brian D’Addario (The Lemon Twigs). Cyrus co-produced the album with Shawn Everett, who also performed on several tracks.
The album starts with “Prelude,” co-written with Cole Haden of Model/Actriz. The song uses multiple instruments, including Moog, Minimoog, Fairlight CMI, saxophone, cello, and Barr-Fox Wurlitzer Theater Organ. The lyrics are spoken rather than sung, which evokes a completely different feeling from Miley’s other tracks. The next song, “Something Beautiful,” begins with smooth soul and then shifts into a louder rock section with distorted guitars and saxophone. It features Adam Granduciel on guitar, Nick Hakim on piano, and Maxx Morando on drums. This track has been described as one of the most successful on the album in terms of both performance and production.
After the opening tracks, the album moves into more familiar territory. “Easy Lover” has a soft rock and disco blend and was originally written for Cyrus’s 2020 album Plastic Hearts. Cyrus later sent it to Beyoncé for her Cowboy Carter project, along with “Shotgun Rider,” which became “II Most Wanted.” Beyoncé chose the latter, and “Easy Lover” stayed with Cyrus.
Other tracks include “End of the World,” which adds piano flourishes reminiscent of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” and “Give Me Love,” a cinematic ballad. “More to Lose” is a slow, sentimental song that includes saxophone and piano and focuses on a breakup. The title line, “I just thought we had more to lose,” is its emotional center. However, critics have commented that the song’s writing becomes less effective with lines like “The TV’s on but I don’t know / My tears are streaming like our favorite show.”
The second half of the album turns to club and dance music. “Reborn,” “Walk of Fame,” and “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” use synthesizers and drum machines that reference hi-NRG styles from 1980s gay clubs. “Walk of Fame” includes vocals by Brittany Howard, who gives a dramatic, deep delivery, and guitar work by Danielle Haim. “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” features supermodel Naomi Campbell speaking lines like “She never wears a watch, still she’s never late” and “She has the perfect scent.” These spoken passages are set against orchestral strings.
Despite the variety in genre, the album does not include a song that clearly stands out as a hit on the level of “Flowers.” “End of the World” and “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” are possible single choices, but neither has the same mainstream appeal.
The Film: A Glamorous “Pop Opera”
Alongside the album, Miley Cyrus released a visual companion film titled Something Beautiful: A Pop Opera, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 6, 2025, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Rather than following a traditional narrative structure, the film is presented as a visual album, a continuous sequence of stylized music videos, grouped into three thematic acts and interspersed with spoken word interludes.
Cyrus has described the piece not as a story-driven film but as her “own way of touring,” with inspiration drawn from grand visual works like The Wall and high fashion. Throughout the film, she appears in different surreal and glamorous setups, walking through a studio backlot in fluorescent blue furry chaps, lying on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and posing with Naomi Campbell on a motorbike.
TikTok Fan Event and Surprise Performance
Before the album’s release, on May 29, 2025, Cyrus hosted a private fan-only listening event at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. The event was in partnership with TikTok. Fans were invited through Cyrus’s comments on TikTok videos that used her song “Easy Lover.” Only 100 fans were selected.
At the event, Cyrus performed several songs live, including “More to Lose,” “Easy Lover,” and “End of the World.” She also sang part of her earlier hit “The Climb.” The band for the night included Michael Pollack on piano, Jonathan Rado on guitar, and Maxx Morando on drums. Cyrus told the audience that she had developed the album through exclusive gatherings at Chateau Marmont over the past one to two years.
Actress Anya Taylor-Joy attended the event. Toward the end, a fan proposed to his boyfriend, prompting Cyrus to joke, “Go get a room! Put it on my bill. If you want a bed, I’ll charge it to my card.”
LGBTQ+ Culture and Pride Month
Something Beautiful was released just days before the start of Pride Month 2025. Cyrus has described it as her “gayest” album. She frequently expresses support for LGBTQ+ culture and has spoken about her close connection to queer fans. In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, she mentioned being “surrounded” by gay people in her daily life.
Cyrus also attended the fan-hosted “Something Beautiful Ball” in New York City on the album’s release day. She spoke to the audience about her long-standing relationship with the queer community and emphasized how mutual inspiration flows between her and her fans.
Songs like “Walk of Fame” and “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” are meant for ballroom culture, echoing past tributes by artists like Madonna and Beyoncé. Naomi Campbell’s presence and spoken word performance underline the album’s dedication to LGBTQ+ spaces and aesthetics.
Miley’s View on the Industry
In a recent interview with The New York Times Magazine, Cyrus discussed how her career is shaped by the music business. She explained, “When I sign a contract, they’re buying records that they wish to sell.” She acknowledged that she is currently tied to the demands of her label but said she hopes to one day become “an artist, untied, untethered.”
She also talked about her songwriting approach, saying she either writes “normal” songs or “really weird” ones, with no middle ground, and it’s reflected in Something Beautiful, which moves between straightforward pop and experimental tracks.
During the TikTok event at Chateau Marmont, Cyrus told fans, “My next album is about to be extremely experimental, so have fun with that. Something Beautiful is just the appetizer.”
The album is now available for streaming. The full-length visual film will play in theaters for one night only on June 12, 2025.
