Though packed with gorgeous costumes and well-designed sets, I felt like I was missing something while watching Something Beautiful. The visual album is being released to accompany Cyrus’ latest studio album of the same name. It’s a quick watch and something I anticipate seeing in the background of parties this summer. Largely inoffensive but lacking cohesion and a sense of idenтιтy, Something Beautiful has no perspective. It only makes Cyrus’ shortcomings as a pop star more evident, never convincing me she’ll stand the test of time.
As an artist, Cyrus has always struggled to define herself aesthetically and has never had the clearly defined eras or evolutions that other stars have tackled. When most people think about recent visual albums, Beyoncé’s Lemonade immediately comes to mind, and it’s difficult to measure up to something as clearly defined and purposeful as this work. What Something Beautiful lacks more than anything is a sense of purpose. Of course, a visual album is primarily made to be beautiful and have on behind the scenes, but Cyrus had the resources to make it more than that.
Miley Cyrus Is Stunning In Something Beautiful, But She Doesn’t Push Herself To Be More
There’s A Lot Of Style & Very Little Substance In Something Beautiful
I like Cyrus as an artist. I think she pH๏τographs well, and the fact that I grew up watching her on TV imbues all of her music with a sense of nostalgia. The album itself is strong and is simultaneously interesting yet easy listening. However, it doesn’t instantly lend itself to being brought to life in what is essentially an extended music video. Firmly set in LA with plenty of references to old Hollywood (Hollywood Blvd makes a cameo), Something Beautiful is grasping at the nostalgia that’s essential to Cyrus’ image to make a case for the album’s necessity.
Cyrus has nothing to say and no thematic throughline to impart throughout Something Beautiful. Of course, there was never going to be a story in the project the way there is in a traditional movie, but I was hoping for some emotional nuance to be present. There’s no catharsis or lesson to be learned here, and if that’s what Cyrus intended to create, then she hit the mark. Unfortunately, that also means that Something Beautiful will pᴀss with little fanfare.
I can’t see a potential future where audiences flock to see a little less than an hour of Cyrus posing in different sound stages over and over again.
As a pop star who can’t really dance and who doesn’t have an aesthetic that people ᴀssociate with her, it’s questionable why Cyrus decided to make a visual album in the first place. It’s risky to green-light a project of this scale; if it’s popular, it could help capitalize on the momentum of her recent Grammy win. However, I can’t see a potential future where audiences flock to see a little less than an hour of Cyrus posing in different sound stages over and over again. Fortunately, she looks as beautiful as the name of the album suggests.
The majority of the album sees Cyrus pouting at the camera in glamorous clothes and fun makeup, and this is appealing. However, she’s almost entirely stationary, with a few extended dance sequences where the backup dancers do most of the work. I’m not advocating for every pop star to be a trained dancer, but if this is the case, then Something Beautiful could’ve been accompanied by a pH๏τo series instead of a movie. Diehard Cyrus’ fans might be thrilled to get this content from her, but at the end of the day, it’s just more content.
Something Beautiful Is Easy To Put On In The Background
The Album’s Theatrical Release Is Confusing
The fact that Something Beautiful is coming to theaters came as a surprise to me. It seems much better suited to a direct-to-streaming, or even YouTube, release. The audience interested in watching Something Beautiful would want to throw it on the TV with friends and critique every costume change and makeup look together. Watching music videos has become a social experience for a large part of Cyrus’ demographic, and she isn’t taking advantage of this to the fullest extent.
On the whole, the project is impressive, and it’s a testament to Cyrus’ dedication to her craft and faith in her most recent release that she decided to make it. However, I wish she had bigger set pieces, conceits, and ideas to match the scale of a visual album. It’s fun, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but I found myself distracted, turning away from the screen several times because I knew I wasn’t missing much. Something Beautiful will come and go, and for most, it won’t make much of an impact.
