Bass Persuades Finds Miley Back on the Dance Floor, if Not Quite in Step: Review

Miley wants to know why the kids aren’t dancing anymore. On Bass Persuades, her tenth album and her first under just her first name, she makes a persuasive case for the dance floor, even when the lyrics don’t keep pace with the beat. It’s a continuation of the mature sound she’s been building for years. Since leaving the Hannah Montana world behind, the now 33-year-old Miley has always been a fearless and loyal collaborator, trudging into uncharted waters on 2013’s cringey but fun hip-hop/pop effort Bangerz, which gave us the mega-hit “Wrecking Ball,” and trying on psychedelic flavors with 2015’s Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz alongside Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. But it’s on 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation, which gave us the dreamy hit “Flowers,” and last year’s Something Beautiful that she hit a sweet spot, melding her diverse influences into a mature sound. Her voice isn’t stretched here aquite the way it was on Something Beautiful, but her vocal work is solid throughout. Find Miley Tickets Here Bass Persuades begins its eponymous track with a series of dark synth chords. A spoken intro verse channels Lady Gaga (the whole song is very early Gaga-esque) setting dystopian night...