One of several different album covers for the new Miley Cyrus album "Bangerz", releasing officially on Tuesday.
There's sobering news for Miley Cyrus on her just-leaked new CD, and it’s that there’s no audio equivalent to twerking.
Which leaves her with limited chances to expand on the spectacular media splash she made with her recent go-for-broke MTV performance.
This time, it’s all down to an element we seldom think of when it comes to Miley: Music.
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So, just what sound has the star chosen for this, her first fully adult CD? (The disc won’t be officially released until Tuesday, but it leaked Monday evening on iTunes).
As you might guess, it’s a mixed bag, meant to hedge as many bets as possible. As the former teen idol promised, roughly a quarter of the disc draws from the low-down sound of hip hop’s dirty south.
That may seem like an odd choice, given the style’s age. But the wily, 20-year-old star knows it’s still new to her audience, many of whom, like her, do not yet have the paperwork required to drink legally.
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Unfortunately, this doesn’t redeem Miley entirely. In the best hip-hop track, “4 X 4,” she offers a guest shot from Nelly, who rides the beat with a musicality she can’t match.
Whenever Miley goes for such raw sexual moments, it sounds nearly as forced as that MTV performance looked.
She goes for fully earnest emotion in several ballads, including the promising “Adore You.” But at times it’s hard to determine her actual effect. There’s enough machinery tricking up her vocals to launch a mission to Mars.
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Miley meets her match on that score in the by-the-numbers duet track with Britney Spears, “SMS/Bangerz.” They both sound bionic.
Perhaps the CD’s most left-field song — “FU” — luxuriates in solid retro-pop, referencing the tragic grandeur of Dusty Springfield. In songs like this, you can hear the richer qualities in Miley’s voice that might be nurtured in a less cynical project.
In places the star shows some genuine country honk. She sounds even better in “Get It Right,” a flowing piece of funk.
Passages like this suggest Miley could have come up with a CD that has more of the musicality favored by peers like Ariana Grande or Demi Lovato.
But, it seems, she has already chosen her road — and it’s one geared more to provoke than to move.
jfarber@nydailynews.com
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