Freshly released today, 18th of September 2026, is Miley Cyrus’ tenth studio album Bass Persuades through Atlantic Records. This is the first album where it’s strictly credited to just Miley as she drops the name Cyrus from her artistic style.
Bass Persuades is very heavily dance-pop with a bit of a blend of classic rock influence, which are genres that Miley is no stranger to from her previous albums. The album is described as a reflective description of Miley’s relationship with her fiancé, Maxx Morando, while also exploring self love. Miley describes this album as a “love story” and “romantic thread” through out, spread across a complex set of layers. The track listing itself was already decided shortly after the release of Something Beautiful, carrying on the trend of rapid-fire album reveals.
My first highlight track is the album opener ‘Bass Persuades’. From the moment this track starts, it’s full of diva swagger, catchy choruses and pulsating instrumentals. With lyrics like “The kids don’t wanna dance, wanna dance”, it’s the type of pop song that will be stuck in your head for days. This track shows really strong parallels with ‘Danceteria’ by Madonna, along with a little bit of Lady Gaga and Britney Spears alongside just for good measure; having grown up surrounded by the music of such female pop royalty, this track was always going to stand out for me on pure nostalgia alone.
My second highlight track is ‘Different Religion’ featuring Model/Actriz. Just like the previous track, this one is another catchy pop track; a slightly different atmosphere runs throughout though – there’s a bit less confident swagger, but a lot more free spirit diva. The lyrics read like a freedom cry: “I want to be saved by a different religion”, with scratchy guitars in the background but a much softer, ballad-like tempo.
My third and final highlight track is ‘Orbit’. This is an absolutely beautiful ballad, the type that anyone born in the 1990’s would have grown up listening to. Pure emotional rawness with hints of true yearning for love that you could only find in a dream. Miley’s voice also sounds phenomenal in this track, complimented beautifully by the calm romantic instrumentals.
All in all, I found Bass Persuades to be a genuinely great album, with it really standing out just how evolved and mature Miley’s unashamedly pop sound has become over the course of her superstar career. The story of this album is of the true lived experience of an adult woman that knows who she is and isn’t afraid to tell the world what she wants; the continuation of a much deeper life story that I can’t wait to hear the next part of.
