Plastic Hearts
Plastic Hearts is Miley Cyrus’s seventh studio album and was released on November 27, 2020. This LP comes after her EP “She Is Coming” and single “Slide Away,” both released in 2019. Although the single is not a part of this album, it provides a lot of insight into where this LP would be going. This being her previous relationship with her now ex-husband. Throughout the LP, she provides a lot of insight into how she feels and how she still thinks about the relationship and how it has affected her.
The lead single that came out of this album was “MIdnight Sky.” The song channeled a Stevie Nicks kind of vibe that would have come out in the ’80s. What makes this song even better is the remix of Midnight Sky and Edge of Seventeen. Given the current trend of nostalgic dance/ synth-pop, the single felt very different than many of the songs being released at the time. In the song, Miley discusses how she feels great about leaving the relationship and how it has led her to feel free in a sense. The second single that was released to promote the album was “Prisoner,” featuring Dua Lipa. The song is very similar to that of “Physical” by Oliva Newton-John. When the single was initially released, I found the song to be very boring, with not a lot being done production-wise to elevate it. However, after listening to it within the album’s context, I have to come to appreciate the song a little more. I would also like to say that Miley and Dua Lipa have a lot of chemistry within the song that really does make all the difference.
The album is very 80’s rock with a little bit of punk and a hint of electric pop. You can clearly tell what she was going for, considering the two other features: Billy Idol and Joan Jett. Both individuals have experience and are widely known for their rock status. Throughout the album, Miley will often switch between a rock and a very slowed down country. Although I hadn’t seen this the first time around, it became apparent after really thinking about the LP. Although I don’t mind the country songs, they take away a lot of what is supposed to be an 80’s rock album.
The album starts with “WTF Do I Know” and is a magnificent intro into the album. The bass line throughout the song is so good, and the lyrics are outstanding. One of my favorite lyrics from this song has to be, “Am I wrong that I moved on, and I don’t even miss?” This song is a clear indicator as to what she is going to talk about throughout the LP. The album then moves on to the title track, “Plastics Hearts.” Within this song, Miley provides a lot of good vocal delivery that really elevates the song. Within this song, Miley talks about how she “just wants to feel something,” this being an emotion of some sort because she is “hollow” on the inside. We then move on to “Angels Like You,” and we start to see the country songs. This song is perfect and shows us exactly how Miley feels about the relationship between her and her ex-husband. Moving on, the album then goes into “Prisoner” and then into “Gimme What I Want.” “Gimme What I Want,” I think, is where we can see a little bit of the punk influence. The lyrics show us that Miley, at one point, didn’t care about the other person in the relationship’s emotions and how it would often lead to her harming herself mentally. Following this track is “Night Crawling,” featuring Billy Idol. The song has amazing vocal performances from Billy and Miley, where you can almost hear a growl in their voices that add a lot to the song as a whole. After this song is “Midnight Sky” then “High.” High” goes back into a more slowed down country that has Miley talking about how she is still feeling “high” about the relationship she left behind and how it will always be with her. Next is the track “Hate Me,” where Miley wonders when a certain person will ever stop hating her for what she has done and is also where she takes full responsibility for what she did. Within the song, I love she sings the lyric “hate me,” especially at the end of the song, where it really wraps up the song. Following this track is “Bad Karma,” featuring Joan Jett. I feel this one is very country rock, and I really appreciate the song because of it. Miley and Joan’s voices go so well together that I actually thought it was Miley singing throughout the song. Moving on, the next track is “Never Be Me.” This song has to be one of the most thoughtful songs on the LP and is where Miley really reflects on who she is. I especially love this song. They switch up the lyrics towards the end of the track because they show how much she is willing to try in a relationship. To close off the LP, Miley decides to go for the track “Golden G String.” Although the track’s title may sound a bit inappropriate, the song itself is actually very insightful on Miley’s time within the music industry and how it has changed over its course. The basic premise is that she doesn’t care what the media has to say about her and that she will do what she wants to do now. I found this track to be a great closer to the album and possibly shows where her music career could be going. I would also like to state that there are three bonus tracks on the album, one being “Edge of Midnight” and the other two being “Heart of Glass” and “Zombie,” these being remakes of old songs. However, in these songs, Miley adds her own spin to them. My favorite one is “Heart of Glass” because of how Miley utilizes her vocals throughout the song.
The album totals to being around 50 minutes with 15 tracks, including the bonus. I found the album as a whole to be very well made and a very thoughtful and reflecting look at Miley Cyrus’ current life. I look forward to seeing what else Miley has in store for the future, and I trust it will be amazing.
On January 12 of this year, “The Post” hit theatres. It stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks and was directed by legendary Steven Spielberg. Streep plays Katharine Graham, the first American female publisher of a state-wide newspaper, while Hanks, in this non-fictional movie, acts the part of the newspaper’s editor.