The album was supported by the lead single "End of the World", as well as the promotional singles "Prelude", the title track, and "More to Lose". "Easy Lover" was issued as a single weeks after the album's release. Something Beautiful was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. The album topped the charts in Austria and has charted within the top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Concept
In November 2024, through an interview with Harper's Bazaar, Cyrus announced she was working on a new album titled Something Beautiful.[2][3] Inspired by Pink Floyd's The Wall (1979), she described the record as a visual album that centers around the theme of "healing".[4] She initially planned to hold a series of intimate performances of the album in "visually pleasing spaces" like forests, but she abandoned the idea in favor of the visual film, which she described as her "way of touring".[5] She began teasing her upcoming album on March 17, 2025, by updating her visuals on social media and her website as well as teasing the project through posters around the world.[6] She announced the album on March 24.[7] On May 19, she revealed the track listing for the album, including features with Brittany Howard and Naomi Campbell.[8]
Themes and composition
Consisting of thirteen songs, Something Beautiful was executive produced by Cyrus and Shawn Everett.[9] It is a pop[10] and progressive pop record.[11] Its artwork was photographed by Glen Luchford and features Cyrus draped in archival 1997 Thierry Muglercouture, which was described as a "striking nod" to the album's "bold" aesthetic and visual storytelling.[12] Miley described the album as "hypnotic", created as "an attempt to medicate somewhat of a sick culture through music". The album's themes center around beauty, death, psychedelia, impermanence, heartbreak, and destruction. When discussing the thematic inspiration for the album, she claimed "the nastiest times of our life do have a point of beauty. They are the shadow, they are the charcoal, they are the shading. You can't have a painting without highlights and contrast."[13]
On May 9, "More to Lose" was released along with its music video.[48] An edited version of the "Walk of Fame" was released on May 28.[49] Two days later, coinciding with the album's release, the music video for "Easy Lover" was released.[50] A limited edition vinyl of "Every Girl You've Ever Loved" was released on July 11, 2025.[51]
Live performances and appearances
On May 3, Cyrus premiered "More to Lose" during a small-scale performance at Casa Cipriani in New York City.[52][53][54]Spotify hosted "An Evening with Miley Cyrus" album listening and film screening event for a limited number of fans in New York City on May 6.[55] On May 21, her interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music was released.[5] The following day, she appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she performed "More to Lose".[56] On May 27, she held a private concert at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles for selected fans discovered on TikTok, where she performed "More to Lose", "Easy Lover", "Flowers", "The Climb" and "End of the World".[57]
After album's release, she held a series of intimate performances. On May 30, she appeared unannounced on the album release ball at the 3 Dollar Bill Club on Brooklyn, where she performed "Easy Lover".[58] On June 2, she sang "More to Lose", "Easy Lover" and "Flowers" during the surprise performance at Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle Hotel in New York City.[59] On June 4, she held an album signing along with the live performance at the Rough Trade shop in New York.[60] On the same day, she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[61] On the next day her interview on the Every Single Albumpodcast was released.[62] On June 18, she performed "End of the World", "More to Lose" and "Easy Lover", along with older songs, during her concert at the Maxim's in Paris, held for Spotify's Billions Club Live.[63]
Upon its release, Something Beautiful was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics, with many praising it as one of Cyrus' most ambitious and introspective works to date. According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Something Beautiful received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 from 16 critic scores.[64]
Rolling Stone'sRob Sheffield described the album as "Cyrus aiming higher than ever", calling it "a wide-ranging search for light (and sax solos) in the darkness", and noting its conceptual ambition inspired by The Wall.[71] Nick Levine of NME called it "a fully realized artistic statement", adding that Cyrus "records what she wants, when she wants, because she knows she's got the chops to pull it off". He highlighted the album's cinematic elements and praised its genre-blending confidence.[69] Roisin O'Connor of The Independent opined that the album "isn't quite as crazy or groundbreaking as she seems to think, but its spirit of adventure encapsulates what we've come to know and love about one of our most frustrating yet endearing pop stars".[68] In Slant Magazine, Sal Cinquemani wrote that "unlike that of its predecessor [Endless Summer Vacation], the music on Something Beautiful oozes as much personality as the singer herself".[11] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called the album "very well written and well made, a varied succession of good vehicles for Cyrus’s powerfully raspy voice".[10] Matt Mitchell wrote in Paste that "Miley Cyrus at her very best was well worth the wait", adding that "eclecticism is no longer lost in the void of marketable tracklists".[70]Sputnikmusic's Dakota West Foss called the album "an absolute triumph that casts aside any qualifiers to make a strong bid for the best major pop album of 2025 so far".[72]AllMusic's Heather Phares opined that "Cyrus' restless creativity and expert craft is a formidable combination, and at its best, Something Beautiful has a fearlessness and sensuality that could be the beginning of something exciting for her music".[65]
The Arts Desk's Joe Muggs opined that the album "sounds like a billion dollars" and praised the production, but criticized the songwriting. He called it "yet another wonderfully messy instalment in a brilliantly messy career – and maybe, maybe a hint of the masterpiece she surely has in her yet".[73] Wren Graves wrote in Consequence described it "top-to-bottom vocal showcase, with some poetry and a couple of conceptual touches", but "far from perfect", adding that "the result is messy, ambitious, occasionally frustrating, and one-of-a-kind".[66] Megan LaPierre of Exclaim! complimented the production and vocals, but opined that "dizzy on the comedown, you're unable to remember a single lyrical platitude or recycled melody", describing the album as "all style and no substance".[73]Clash's Robin Murray opined that the album "is searching for a unity that doesn’t quite coalesce, all while lacking some of the towering peaks of Miley's more commercially-focussed work".[74]
In Pitchfork, Madison Bloom described Something Beautiful as a tonally inconsistent concept album that begins powerfully with its lead singles but stumbles with generic pop-rock and nonsensical lyrics. While praising Cyrus' vocals, Bloom complained about the album's lack of direction and did not believe its ambitions were fully embodied, calling this "a concept album without a concept".[16]The Daily Telegraph'sNeil McCormick deemed it "practically unlistenable" and "parade of trite ditties".[67] Ed Power of The Irish Times called the album "ambitious yet patchy and underwhelming record", as well as "largely colourless and lustreless".[75]
Commercial performance
In the United States, Something Beautiful debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, earning 44,000 album-equivalent units, including 27,000 pure album sales. It became Cyrus' fifteenth top 10 album.[35] Within the United Kingdom, it entered at number three on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the highest new entry of the week and Cyrus' seventh top 10 album.[76] Elsewhere, it opened at number four on Australia's ARIA Albums Chart.[77]
Bonus track: On an Island is written, produced and engineered by Miley and Smith.
Andre Mario Smith - Bass guitar, Rap and backing vocals on chorus. Miley Cyrus on Keys and lead vocals. Drums and FX's programmed by Miley and Smith. Track recording done online and over the phone.
↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved May 27, 2025. Note: Select 21. týden 2025 in the date selector.
↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved May 27, 2025. Note: Select 21. týden 2025 in the date selector.
↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 23.Týden 2025 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
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