Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts

Pitchfork 64

Read Shaad D’Souza’s review of the album.

The Guardian 0

(RCA)
Cyrus might know her way around a Joan Jett cover, but the punky sneer of this post-divorce album feels like an act

Throughout a decade careening gleefully from pop to R&B to country, Miley Cyrus has needed no urging to drop a rock cover. Her unforced simpatico for guitars, and that gravelly bawl, have enabled reputable live takes on Led Zeppelin’s Black Dog (Glastonbury 2019) and Joan Jett’s I Love Rock’n’Roll (her 2011 tour).

Plastic Hearts is the album of that predilection: a set of post-divorce songs that throw up devil’s horns while putting on a punky sneer. Half the time, Cyrus is touting some ersatz idea of “rawk” proselytised by MTV circa 1984. No actual outlaw would turn to Billy Idol for guidance, but here he is on the truly dire Night Crawling, trying not to sing White Wedding.