Howdy howdy! I hope we are all doing great and getting ready to be as festive as we can this year. As usual, new month – new post on here, however today we are introducing somewhat brand new that I was meaning to do for a long time: MUSIC REVIEWS! In all fairness when ‘Chromatic’ by Lady Gaga dropped I wrote about it here recommending you all the album and giving a brief history of what the whole project was about. And it seemed to resonate with most of you, leaving some asking for more. So here I am, taking that idea to the next level. Now mind you this is not going to be a monthly replacement of our usual topic, let’s think about music review more as a way to break the rhythm and feed you guys more music you might not know and why I liked it. Without further ado, let’s get this MUSIC REVIEWS STARTED!
I want to kick this series off with an album that really really impressed me this year: ‘PLASTIC HEARTS’ by Miley Cyrus. I have been a fan of Miley since she was on Disney Channel (for those of you old enough to get the reference) where she’d play Hannah Montana and sing her little heart out. She has always had a very special spot in my heart although, as we probably all know, growing up with fame and success did not do her really well for a few years especially. Miley got kind of lost in the process of becoming a woman due to a lot of reasons and media, critics and press really went after her in a witch-hunt that did not make things any easier for her. During those years, music-wise she did not produce high quality content in my opinion and there was a moment where I thought we were going to lose her just like we lost Amy Winehouse. However, she managed to pick herself up in an immense act of strength and got back on track from mid 2017 when she realised her previous album ‘Younger now’. My heart was full of joy to see she was doing better! So after all the pain and tribulations she had to go through, let’s fast-forward to 2020. On November 27th 2020 she releases ‘Plastic hearts’ and I am completely shocked (positive shock of course!). We knew there was an album incoming this year, but never in a million years I could have imagined it would be this. Total disbelief! Let’s get a closer look at it.
This album is a fabulous blend of Pop, Rock and Country. You can clearly hear all sorts of influences and references, although her songwriting style has changed so drastically that this whole record feels… elevated. It is extremely real and, at times, even pretty rough. It is a beautiful mix of stories full of hope, pain, despair, growth. Her pop/rock roots are always there as they have always been: part of her rebellious, independent and free spirit generating harsher vocals full of effects like creak, fry and distortions, heavier drums on some tracks and catchy hooks to get you stuck in song loops for hours. For the country side of things, Dolly Parton (her godmother) played a key role in Miley’s life and she definitely picked up not just advice from our iconic ‘Jolene’ singer. The beautifully blended backing vocals, clear and crisp, the syncopated strummed guitars in the arrangement, the phrasing of the lyrics and storytelling songwriting style. Every single track is beautiful and different in its own way. And the collaborations did not disappoint either, actually turned out even better than I thought leaving ‘Prisoner’ ft. Dua Lipa at the top of the album for me.
Miley’s vocals have been subject of attention throughout the years as most people just thought of her as a child of the industry that did not deserve to be in the spotlight. And yes, in the past some of her performances might have been lacklustre, agreed, however she really took the time to work on herself and her voice drastically improving and gaining control over her rebellious tones. From the vibrant country twang and bright tones, to the creaks, vocal fry, distortions, growls and rattles, powerful mid-range notes and lots and lots and LOTS of heartfelt emotions, she truly created a masterpiece of an album. Everything is tastefully executed and performed. Obviously due to the pandemic we haven’t had the chance to hear a lot of this music live, however there are a couple of recorded performances already which I will link down below for you all to watch. It is clear that she is now in control of her life and nothing can describe how happy I feel when I see that. She also released a couple of super interesting covers which surprised me once again: ‘Heart of glass’ originally by Blondie was definitely my favourite one of the bunch. And speaking of Blondie, I feel like the band was a big inspiration for those rocky vibes too.
Overall this record is a solid 9/10 for me: I am beyond impressed with her work and growth, and the quality of production is also super pleasant to listen to. If you haven’t already, please give this album a listen – I promise you it’s a good time! The album is available on all streaming platforms so get your headphones on and enjoy 🙂 Hope you all enjoyed this first episode of the MUSIC REVIEWS series, can’t wait to do more in the future! Now… here are some helpful links:
CLICK HERE FOR ‘PLASTIC HEARTS’ FULL ALBUM ON YOUTUBE