Falling short of expectations, Miley Cyrus’ newly released album, “Endless Summer Vacation”, lacks diversity

Anya Gore

Staff Writer

Cyrus released her eighth studio album on March 10. “Endless Summer Vacation” consists of twelve songs, including pre-released single “Flowers”, through Columbia Records. The main writers of this album were Miley Cyrus, Greg Kurstin, and Sarah Aarons.

In previous albums, Cyrus has been known for blending the genres of country and pop to create a low and raspy sound she is well known for. In this album, her mezzo-soprano voice is almost unrecognizable, as she incorporates genres such as dance-pop and disco.

“Flowers” was Cyrus’ take on Bruno Mars’ song “When I Was Your Man”. While keeping the rhythms and sound the same, Cyrus shifts the lyrics in order to take on the woman’s perspective of the situation given in the song. For example, in “When I Was Your Man”, Mars sings, “That I should have bought you flowers and held your hand”. Cyrus altered the lyrics to, “I can buy myself flowers and I can hold my own hand”. This empowers the confidence of many women as Cyrus emphasizes the importance of female independence and strength in both life and relationships.

In “Handstand”, Cyrus shows little to no musical ability. While the background music consists of excessive notes and sounds, she speaks into the microphone demonstrating no vocal range or rhythmic patterns, which she has shown to be capable of in previous albums. 

Cyrus opens “Muddy Feet”, featuring Sia, with explicit lyrics and a harsh tempo. Cyrus continues to repeat the jarring lyrics as the song continues. Many listeners were disappointed to find that award-winning vocalist Sia was only featured briefly in the outro of the song, singing only a few seconds of background vocals.

Even though “Flowers” provided this album with a good head-start, Cyrus fails to demonstrate her talent and musical expression throughout the remainder of “Endless Summer Vacation.” Despite the fact that this album is no longer expected to be as successful as her others, Cyrus provided an overall impressive and experienced career in both the music and film industry. 

The repetitive and indistinct songs in “Endless Summer Vacation” establish that this album is not worth listening to. Although this album ventures out into a genre unfamiliar to Cyrus, the songs lack flair and variation, causing this album to be unmemorable and mediocre overall.

“Endless Summer Vacation” can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. It can be purchased from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and Best Buy for $11.98.