3/7
Miley Cyrus knows how to capitalize on fame, how to capitalize on the huge commercial success she has put what seems like a decade of her life into. From the Disney Pop-Princess Hannah Montana to the enormously successful radio charting album Bangerz, Miley has become a household name creating music through her record label RCA. But this new album Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz is different. Self-funded and being given away for free on her website this album isn't part of her contract with the major label and as such can be exactly what she wants it to be, without worrying about the commercial success of it. The result of this is sprawling songs, a large range of genres, with a weirdly cosmic vibe and almost every song being incredibly explicit. They aren't made for radio play, with most tracks being over 4 mins or under 1 min. They aren't made for children. They might be made for listening with your friends, or maybe made for when you're alone in you bed room. But the only thing completely certain is that this album was made for Miley.
The first track "Dooo It!" which Miley performed at the VMAs includes entire swaths of the lyrics that just repeat “Yeah I smoke pot//Yeah, I love peace”… “I don’t give a fuck”…”Do it”. In fact the song repeats the lyric "Do it" so frequently it is almost seeming to make a pop culture reference to the Shia LaBeouf motivational speech that tore across the internet late this summer. In a mid-album track entitled "Milky Milky Milk" - which coincidentally is also a good portion of the lyrics to the song - there are also lyrics that declare "I'm sucking on your nipples licking milky milky stars". Like most of the tracks on Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz the track makes you feel like you are on drugs. It creates a disjointed, eerie atmosphere where the lyrics don't do anything in particular. In fact the some lyrics don't seem like they had particular effort put into them. But, some stand out as being worth more than one or two listens. Included in this are the tracks "1 Sun", "Evil is But a Shadow", and "Something About Space Dude".
This project was made with many collaborators working with Miley. A huge contributor and producer on this album is Wayne Conye of the Flaming Lips whom Miley had worked previously with on the 2014 With A Little Help From My Fwends. His influence and musical styling can be easily herd through the album. In an interview with the New York Times Miley said “I am 100 percent in love with Wayne, and Wayne is in love with me, but it’s nothing sexual in any way. That would be the grossest.” Other contributors and collaborators for this album include Phantogram singer Sarah Barthel, Big Sean, Mike Will Made-It, and Ariel Pink.
While it is awesome that Miley had this opportunity to find self-expression outside of the consumeristic model that the music industry typically relies on for artists as huge as her, I wouldn't say this album is for everyone and I wouldn't say this album is for me.
Listen to the album below:
The track list is as follows:
- Dooo It!
- Karen Don’t Be Sad
- The Floyd Song (Sunrise)
- Something About Space Dude
- Space Boots
- Fuckin Fucked Up
- BB Talk
- Fweaky
- Bang Me Box
- Milky Milky Milk
- Cyrus Skies
- Slab of Butter (Scorpion) (feat. Sarah Barthel of Phantogram)
- I’m so Drunk
- I Forgive Yiew
- I Get So Scared
- Lighter
- Tangerine (feat Big Sean)
- Tiger Dreams (feat. Ariel Pink)
- Evil is but a Shadow
- 1 Sun
- Pablow the Blowfish
- Mikey Tibetan Bowlzzz
- Twinkle Song
