‘Bass Persuades’ Review: Miley Cyrus Lets the Music Speak for Itself

After exploring more experimental, psychedelic sounds on last year’s ‘Something Beautiful’, Miley Cyrus takes a clearer, more compact approach on her 10th album, ‘Bass Persuades’. Its nine songs and one remix run for less than 40 minutes. The focus is firmly on dancing, though the odd choices that made her previous record interesting are still here.

The album also marks a new chapter: it’s her first with Atlantic and the first credited simply to Miley. She has moved through country pop, the provocation of ‘Bangerz’, hip-hop and rock, and now sounds comfortable leaving those changes unexplained. You can hear her growing into the kind of lasting star associated with Debbie Harry, Madonna and her late godmother Dolly Parton.

There’s a relaxed feel to ‘Bass Persuades’, even when the songs get loud. Cyrus lets her distinctive raspy voice carry the choruses without pushing too hard. The sounds vary, too: ‘Redlights’ has a warm ABBA feel, ‘Different Religion’ leans into a rough industrial pulse, and ‘Neon Signs’, featuring Miike Snow’s Andrew Wyatt, turns into a quietly suggestive exchange between their vocals.

The title track is less convincing. Its heavy synth beat urges everyone to get off their phones and dance, but the message never lands with the bite of ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ or the communal pull of a Gloria Estefan or Paula Abdul hit. ‘Let’s Get Married’, dedicated to Cyrus’ fiancé and collaborator Maxx Morando, stays in gentler dream pop territory. It feels ready for the kind of TikTok attention The Marías found with ‘No One Noticed’.

The songs beyond the obvious singles offer more to hold onto. The buzzing, forceful ‘Innocent Ways’ looks at Cyrus’ younger sister, family tension and the effects of fame, with the lyric “Eight nights in a row she’s been in a crisis / She looks just like me when she cries”. The reference to taking her mother’s maiden name feels especially revealing: “Fall out from the fame / Claim my mother’s maiden name”. ‘Aftermath’ pairs another personal reflection with a restless electronic beat as Cyrus looks back on a relationship that ended: “I miss the future like a face I forgot… I’m sick of poets and being profound”.

Some songs work better than others, but Cyrus sounds sure of herself almost 20 years into her recording career. ‘Bass Persuades’ finds her following her instincts, whether that leads to a dancefloor hook or something more personal.