Faces of beauty

GRAMMY-WINNING pop singer Miley Cyrus’s ninth studio album Something Beautiful drops tomorrow.

In its 13 tracks, the visual album – which will have an accompanying film releasing in theatres internationally on June 27 – tackles existential themes, centring on healing from trauma and finding beauty in the darkest moments of life.

In an interview, Miley described the body of work as ‘hypnotising and glamorous’, and credited British rock band Pink Floyd’s album and accompanying horror-surrealist film The Wall as inspiration.

“My idea was making The Wall, but with a better wardrobe and more glamorous and filled with pop culture,” she said, adding that on the fashion side, the late designer Thierry Mugler’s 1995 couture show shaped the record’s mood board and aesthetic. She is seen wearing an archival 1997 piece by him on the album cover.

The pop sensation also revealed that the film is her way of presenting something to the fans that is an alternative to embarking on a tour. She added that it is difficult to do as she suffers from Reinke’s edema, a rare condition of swollen vocal cords which she underwent surgery for in 2019.

She described the condition as a part of her unique anatomy, explaining that she would rather try preserving her singing voice – which is distinguishable for its deepness and raspy sound – than to risk waking up from undergoing another operation sounding different.

“The chance of waking up from a surgery and not sounding like myself is a probability,” Miley said.

“I have this very large polyp on my vocal cord, which is giving me a lot of the tone and the texture that has made me who I am, but it’s extremely difficult to perform with because it’s like running a marathon with ankle weights on,” she added.

The 32-year-old superstar emerged as a teen idol by playing the lead role in the Disney Channel musical series Hannah Montana (2006 to 2011), which kick-started her singing career and paved the way for her to grow into a successful artist as an adult.

She won her first two Grammy awards last year for the hit song Flowers in the Record Of The Year and Best Pop Solo Performance categories, and bagged her third earlier this year for her feature on the Beyoncé song II Most Wanted in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance segment.