Miley Cyrus has returned with a new single called “Malibu”. It’s the first track from her upcoming sixth studio album and follows her 2013 solo LP, Bangerz, and 2015 collaborative LP with The Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz. Check out “Malibu” and the song’s accompanying music video up above.
According to a recent interview with Billboard, “Malibu” is about her newly-rekindled relationship with actor Liam Hemsworth. The album as a whole is described by Billboard as “pretty singer-songwriter-y.” Cyrus agreed with that assessment, but added that it’s “not granola. I don’t listen to Ed Sheeran and John Mayer and stuff.”
Cyrus wrote the lyrics and melodies herself, with assistance from producer-writer Oren Yoel, who previously collaborated with Cyrus on the track “Adore You”). Her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, said of the album, “This is Miley leaning into her roots more than I’ve ever heard. For her, this is honest.” Miley added, “My main concern isn’t radio. I truly don’t even listen to it.”
Though the album is somewhat political and includes a track about Hillary Clinton, Cyrus said it’s her attempt to reach across the aisle. “I have to ask myself, ‘How am I going to create real change? And not just fucking preach to the choir anymore,” she told Billboard. She went on, “I like the way I think right now. But don’t Trump supporters like the way they think? So I’ve also got to be open with the way I approach people with my opinions. That’s the only way to make real change. And it’s not because I want to sell records! I know now the ways that don’t work. Because I went really hard during the election. But at the end of the day, we lost. We won, but because the system is fucked up, we lost. I thought, ‘OK. I learned my lesson on this one.’”
