Miley Cyrus’ ‘Bass Persuades’: Key Takeaways from Her New Album

A new Miley Cyrus album is always an event. Ten albums into an ever-changing career in pop, she has shown she can surprise us, delight us, make a huge hit, or make something weird — and you never quite know which Miley you are going to get. That is part of the fun. She has said she worked quickly when she was recording her latest album, Bass Persuades, which arrives slightly less than 18 months after 2025’s Something Beautiful. So what is it like? Here are our first reactions after taking a spin through these 10 adventurous tracks.

“Bass Persuades” Was a True First-Single Fakeout

Miley has been doing this for long enough to know what kind of lead single will get an album off the ground. “Flowers” got so big it eclipsed the rest of Endless Summer Vacation. But “Bass Persuades,” the opening and title track of her latest LP, hit reset in a more misleading way. The track is built around the defeated sentiment that “the kids don’t wanna dance” — rich coming from an artist who avoids the stage like a plague despite being one of the most charismatic performers we have. “Bass Persuades” diminished a lot of faith in the record for some fans, but don’t be fooled. Bass Persuades is so much sharper than its lead single let on.

The “Dead Petz” Era Rises Again

For so many of us Miley fans, one of her peaks is her 2015 space-rock opus Miley Cyrus & her Dead Petz, where she got heavily into the prog side of her artistry. It is an album unlike anything else in her catalog: She teamed up with Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips to float off into her own corner of the galaxy. She hits these heights again in “Orbit,” floating over the Pink Floyd-style synths for a psychedelic prayer to orbit you forever. Despite the Dead Petz ambience, she swerves back into a down-home country twang to sing this one, which somehow makes it trippier.

Miley Has Seen the Light of Her Own Religion

A reading from the Book of Miley, who has a lot to say about her latest divine revelations in the album highlight “Different Religion.” This fantastic 2002-vintage electroclash bombshell opens like Black Sabbath circa “Iron Man” swerving into Duran Duran circa “The Wild Boys,” with the electro-distortion going into the red until everything sounds like broken glass. Miley proclaims the gospel of some groovy theology, proclaiming “I’ve got my own god! He drives a fast car!” and “My god’s a hot boy!” Model/Actriz join in, with awesomely butch robot commands over the industrial beats.

Miley Knows Her Noise Rock

And can we just take one more beat to appreciate Miley’s excellent taste in Brooklyn noise bands? Model/Actriz are the coolest of the cool, and hearing her tangle with guitarist Jack Wetmore’s ice-pick riffs and frontman Cole Haden’s pitch-dark purr on “Different Religion” is a pure joy. The members of Model/Actriz are credited for instrumental contributions to several other tracks on Bass Persuades, too.

Maxx Morando Is Behind the Boards Once More

Since Miley and her fiancé Maxx Morando began dating in 2021, they have also been working together on her music. Morando, the drummer of alt-rock band Liily and formerly of the Regrettes, co-wrote and produced a couple of tracks on 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation. He went on to work on half of Something Beautiful, and now, he has produced all but two tracks on Bass Persuades. In an interview with Zane Lowe, Miley said she appreciated Morando’s “genreless flow,” which was shaped by growing up on Migos.

“Neon Signs” Proves That Romance Is Not Dead

Miley sings a love ballad with Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow, and it is arguably both the creepiest and most sensual moment on an album with plenty of both. They duet on a fractured doo-wop valentine, filtered through the Seventies electro soundscapes of Brian Eno. The beautifully spacious production adds Depeche Mode synth burbles, Phil Spector-style girl-group castanets, and piano frills straight off an Abba record.

Miley May Have Dropped the Name, But She’s Still a Cyrus

Miley kicked off the Bass Persuades era by ditching her surname — she is just Miley now. But on the propulsive “Innocent Ways,” the singer proves family is forever as she writes a song for one of her sisters (presumably Noah Cyrus). Miley is coming from the place of a concerned older singer that is speaking from experience as she warns about the “fallout from the fame” and offers sage wisdom like “Grace comes with age, but don’t tell her.”