Miley’s ‘Bass Persuades’ Is Pretty and Passable, but Surprisingly Light on Bass… or Persuasion: Album Review

The initial impression left by Miley Cyrus's "Bass Persuades" proved to be an elaborate bait-and-switch. Arriving approximately seventeen days ahead of the complete album, the title single suggested a tenth studio collection packed with dancefloor-ready tracks, gently chiding a younger demographic for preferring nights in over nights out, while attempting to lure them onto the dancefloor through pulsating beats and spoken directives reminiscent of Madonna and Lady Gaga. The message appeared unmistakable: Cyrus was prepared to shed some of her quirky trademarks, and perhaps her surname too, in pursuit of a straightforward dance record. That interpretation, it turns out, originated with the audience rather than the artist, even though naming the entire project after that single seemed to constitute a vow the final product had no intention of keeping.

Launched on a Friday without prior press listening sessions, the record kicks off with "Bass Persuades," then transitions into "Different Religion," a second track treading similar sonic ground, before largely abandoning that style until the thirty-eight-minute collection concludes with a tenth entry: an amped-up, ultimately superfluous remix of the title cut. Sandwiched in between is a surprising abundance of love ballads, interspersed with a handful of eccentric tangents. It's diverse, yet far from matching the breadth of "Endless Summer Vacation." Under no circumstances will anyone finish this album commending its bass frequencies. Persuasion is similarly lacking, and although the record is agreeable, serviceable and at moments entrancing, it comes across as insubstantial, its hooks never scaling the heights that top-tier pop regularly achieves, leaving a persistent feeling of "that's all?" once the concise runtime concludes. It won't rank as anyone's top Miley album, nor will it be anyone's bottom pick. The prevailing impression is of something likable on its own merits but half-baked across virtually every dimension, as though the singer rushed to hand over product to her new label, even while the predominantly lovestruck lyrics, several of them skillfully composed, clearly mirror her current romantic circumstances.

For those who cherished her prior release, the scarcely year-old "Something Beautiful," for committing to a sleek, striking vintage aesthetic and remaining faithful to it, "Bass Persuades" feels adrift, less a bold declaration than a temporary placeholder between more ambitious endeavors. The album's central motif appears to be that life is treating her exceedingly well, perhaps remarkably so, alongside fiancée Maxx Morando, who shares writing and production credits on all but two tracks. Morando, a musician recognized for his involvement with the indie outfit Liily, has been romantically connected to Cyrus since 2021, and his influence is discernible throughout. Observing Miley in lovesick mode yields inconsistent outcomes. The third track, "Let's Get Married," veers sharply from the two banger-adjacent songs before it into synth-laden easy-listening terrain, and the payoff doesn't justify the disruption; it will undoubtedly provide background music at future weddings, yet numerous attendees might find themselves eager for the ceremony to finish. Thankfully, that overly sentimental detour represents the album's weakest moment, and rebound arrives swiftly. "Orbit," the following track, is equally romantic but stands among the more accomplished selections, a power ballad, or rather a ballad that doesn't overexert the power, delivering sharp wordplay and authentic contemplation where the metaphor could have easily seemed worn out. Her beloved occupies the center of her universe: "Place a marble on the floor / When you walk in the room, it'll roll to you" registers as a truly charming love note.

The amorous musings occasionally give way to more playful, risqué material. "Neon Signs" isn't particularly distinctive as a tune, but the progressively absurd spoken interchanges between Cyrus and duet partner Andrew Wyatt, from the group Miike Snow, might elicit a smile before everything is whispered and finished, or trigger a cringe, considering Wyatt murmurs near the end, amid the pair's intimate sounds, "Some people think I'm creepy, but others think I'm just right." An album this drenched in earnest love songs could benefit from that injection of awkward verbal flirtation. The record's finest track, "Aftermath," appears at the halfway mark, and as the sole song that genuinely escalates into something more passionate, it would have served as an ideal finale, were it not for one issue: it's the album's only melancholy number, an odd note on which to conclude an otherwise upbeat collection. Even so, it's reassuring to know Miley can momentarily reflect philosophically on the end of all things, including her own romance, as an interlude within an album otherwise characterized by romantic hope.

A second somber track distinguishes itself and will probably emerge as the album's most discussed selection: "Innocent Ways," in which Cyrus sings extensively about a sibling widely believed to be Noah. "I want better for my sister / She calls me only when it's late night and she's high / Her mind is spinning / Eight nights in a row / She's been in a crisis / She looks just like me when she cries." Theatrical conflict must originate somewhere on an album largely lacking it, so borrowing turmoil from a family member is a reasonable exchange. Curiously, Miley seems to take issue with her sister for wearing a Blondie T-shirt without actually listening to Blondie, a reference to the new wave group responsible for "Heart of Glass" and "Call Me." Even more compelling, she sings, "Fall out from the fame / Claim my mother's maiden name," suggesting a family that deliberates carefully over surnames and when to adopt or abandon them. Apart from its truly captivating lyrics, "Innocent Ways" also ranks as the album's most fiery banger, and exploring entrenched sibling rivalry over club beats is a concept worth supporting. "Snow" concludes the record on a gentler if somewhat weightless note and should be the closing track, but Miley apparently decided nine wasn't sufficient and rounded up to an even ten with the unwanted title-track remix. Ending with the most evident filler isn't an ideal choice, though as someone indifferent to the original, I could personally value the amphetamine rendition slightly more.

Perhaps the album feels so concise because Miley has scheduled Hollywood Bowl performances themed around it. The Bowl, among Los Angeles's most celebrated amphitheaters, has welcomed everyone from the Beatles to Beyoncé since its 1922 opening, and those concerts will be remarkably brief if she primarily performs these nine songs, which presumably she won't. It doesn't seem that "Bass Persuades" will become a landmark album for Cyrus devotees; her fans are notorious for regarding her records as polarizing, to the extent that a release like "Something Beautiful" generates remarks labeling it either among her finest or among her weakest. Nevertheless, it wouldn't be surprising if the fanbase collectively positions this new effort somewhere in the middle of any ranking. "Not bad" likely isn't the desired response when someone embarks on a fresh business chapter in their career. But credit where due: she never produces the same album twice. So if this one is neither overwhelming nor underwhelming but simply whelming, it won't diminish anticipation for whatever direction Miley Mach 11 takes.