The Daily Spin, April 10
Miley Cyrus | Endless Summer Vacation
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
One hundred albums! I can’t believe that we’ve made it this far. Pretty friggin cool.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!
Album: Endless Summer Vacation (2023)
Artist: Miley Cyrus
Link:
On her eighth album - which, holy shit, when did we get to the point that Miley Cyrus has had eight albums - Miley switches things up under us, pushing forward into an era that I’ve mostly considered ‘bummer pop’ in my head.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t really feel like it lands. So much of Cyrus’ best work lies in her ability to push the emotional feeling forward - and you get glimpses of it here, tracks like ‘Violet Chemistry’ and the demo version of standout single ‘Flowers’ giving to weight to her pleading tones over synths that take an almost urgent tone - not frantic, but not shying away from the challenge of pacing with her vocals.
On too much of the album, though, it just doesn’t come together. The pacing and the music itself don’t quite fit - as though she’s trying to evoke Willow Smith in ‘Meet Me At Our Spot’, but without any of the edge to her voice. The record is too smooth, particularly in her vocals. This is supposedly music about being kinda sad, and yet it all just feels rather devoid of feelings, washed out, a summer vacation gone too long, luster lost long ago.
Rating: 6.1/10
Best Tracks: Violet Chemistry; Rose Colored Lenses
Worst Tracks: River; Wonder Woman; Island