Miley Cyrus's 'Bass Persuades' Album Is Pleasant

Miley Cyrus's tenth album, 'Bass Persuades,' was released on Friday without press previews. Variety's review finds the 38-minute record pleasant and passable but surprisingly light on both bass and persuasive power.

The title track, released as a single two and a half weeks earlier, suggested a pure club record. Instead, the album opens with that song and 'Different Religion' before largely abandoning dancefloor ambitions. It returns to that style only on the final track, an unnecessary remix of the title song. The core of the album is filled with love ballads and eclectic outliers. The review states one thing is clear: no one will remember this album for having a surfeit of bass.

A Centerless Collection

The overall feel is of something enjoyable but undercooked. Variety suggests it seems like an in-between project meant to mark time between bolder musical statements. For those who admired the cool, consistent retro aesthetic of her previous album 'Something Beautiful,' this new work seems kind of centerless. Its primarily lovestruck lyrics reflect where the singer is in her off-screen life, but the hooks never quite reach the peaks of a great pop song.

The Romantic Core

Fiancée Maxx Morando is a writer-producer collaborator on all but two tracks. Hearing Miley in a besotted state yields mixed results. 'Let's Get Married' is an abrupt shift into synthy easy-listening that the review calls a low point, suggesting wedding attendees might be itchy to skip ahead. The album recovers with 'Orbit,' a better track described as a clever power ballad. It uses the image, 'Place a marble on the floor / When you walk in the room, it'll roll to you.'

The romantic tone is sometimes broken by sillier moments. 'Neon Signs' features increasingly ridiculous spoken interactions between Cyrus and duet partner Andrew Wyatt. Wyatt murmurs at the end, 'Some people think I'm creepy, but others think I'm just right.'

Standouts and Sibling Drama

The album's best song, according to the review, is 'Aftermath.' It arrives halfway through and accelerates into something more impassioned. It is the only sad song on an otherwise cheerful collection, pondering The End of All Things. The other dark track is 'Innocent Ways,' which is sure to be the most talked-about number. Cyrus sings at length about a sibling, presumed by many listeners to be Noah.

The lyrics include: '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.' The review notes she seems to resent her sister for wearing a Blondie T-shirt without listening to the music. More intriguingly, she sings, 'Fall out from the fame / Claim my mother's maiden name.' 'Innocent Ways' is also called the album's 'most heated banger.'

An Abrupt Finish

'Snow' ends the album on a sweeter note, but Cyrus makes it an even 10 tracks with the title track remix. Ending with this filler is not the best look, the review states. The album seems short, raising questions about her upcoming Hollywood Bowl shows themed around it. It is unlikely to be an Event Album for her fans. Variety concludes that her followers are notorious for finding her records polarizing, but they might be unanimous in ranking this new one in the mid-section. 'Not bad' is probably not the reaction sought when starting afresh with a new label. But, as the review notes, she never makes the same album twice.