Reportedly turning down a chance to feature the late Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus’ return to the studio with Bass Persuades is as ambitious as her previous album. There’s much to be said for the trajectory of a pop star. Being on top must be a great feeling, but that can’t last long if you have a message worth sharing. Ed Sheeran, a hot topic as of late, was once questioned about this by David Byrne. The Talking Heads frontman has a knack for changing before his audience knows they want it, and before you know it they’re along for the ride. Sheeran is happy peddling acoustic-adjacent pop filth because he dares not challenge his audience. Cyrus has managed to challenge her audience more in the last two years than ever before and Bass Persuades is a wonderful continuation of such a challenge. Cyrus does not need to replicate the feel of Something Beautiful, merely the success of it. Her Atlantic Records debut pushes her that much further as an artist, whether listeners like it or not.
Does bass persuade, though? Cyrus’ title track feels a bit plain and plodding. Her promise of escapism through Bass Persuades relies on the loud and simple thud of electronic beats. A bold move not to build on that and instead have it been the sole beat behind her vocals, and one that doesn’t quite pay off. She suggests the “kids don’t want to dance,” despite there being a huge volume, from Charli XCX to Madonna, of music that allows us to do just that. Bass Persuades spirals from there and has a wagging-finger feeling to it, telling listeners to step away from the online sphere. It’s a conflicted opening message, implying the reason for a lack of dancing in a new generation is because they’re glued to their phones. Intimacy has always flowed from other sources beyond dance, but for Cyrus it seems to be the sole way of connecting with one another in an always online world.
A stripped-back tone dominates Bass Persuades. When Cyrus hits on that sharp wordplay, as she does with the high-strung and chilling-sounding Different Religion, Bass Persuades comes to life. Tonally inconsistent? No, just varied. Frame it however you like but Cyrus’ latest is filled with the soppy and sincere that needs stronger instrumental backing. Let’s Get Married feels honest and pure in its intention but absent of any long-lasting meaning. Cyrus has some exceptional beats and the occasional thrill of a strong lyric, but neither occurs simultaneously. Aftermath breaches the slower tempo of the album with a shockwave, club-like beat that brings about that want for dance and lust for life that had been building across the first half of Bass Persuades. But what Cyrus deems a thrill is far from profound. Cyrus uses a few subtle but superb collaborations on Bass Persuades. Her pairing with Andrew Wyatt is fantastic, that and Different Religion are the clear highlights here.
What’s left between those songs is an occasional dive into a new sound. It’s not what her listeners will expect, and that is ultimately a positive. Not all of it works, but better to take risks and fall short than to plod on with no change to your style, your image, or your sound. In a time where every album cycle of a pop star is considered a new era, it’s refreshing to hear Cyrus not concern herself with the iconography that comes alongside a new, marketable album. She’s not quite got it together for the songs included, with the likes of REDLIGHTS and Let’s Get Married just a touch underwhelming, but that heavier backend of Bass Persuades is, as its title would suggest, a little persuasive. Not enough to overwhelm the senses and forget what Cyrus accomplished with Something Beautiful, but there’s an indicator of what’s to come with that electrified pop-rock direction from Cyrus.
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