Miley Cyrus has released the first song and visual from her upcoming album Something Beautiful, unleashing the cinematic “Prelude” on Monday morning (March 31).
As indicated by its title, “Prelude” finds the pop star setting up the themes of her May 30-slated LP. As bright shots of shadows dancing over flowers flash in and out over an intensifying orchestral soundscape, Cyrus ponders existential thoughts in spoken-word format.
“Like when following an image from a train, your eyes can’t keep the passing landscapes from being swallowed into endless distance,” she says. “Like when holding a fistful of ashes, your hands can’t save the things that have already been dissolved into air.”
The theatrical visual culminates in a shot of Cyrus staring at the camera with a pained expression on her face, modeling the crystal Thierry Mugler headpiece she wears on Something Beautiful‘s album cover. “The beauty one finds alone is a prayer that longs to be shared,” she tells viewers as the string and brass sounds crescendo.
Something Beautiful will feature 13 new songs accompanied by more visuals with cinematography by Benoît Debie. Last week, Cyrus teased the project in a trailer that heralded it as a “one of a kind pop opera” as well as a “unique visual experience fueled by fantasy.”
The Hannah Montana alum hasn’t released an album since 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and spawned eight-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single “Flowers.” The track also earned Cyrus her first-ever Grammys by taking home record of the year and best pop solo performance at the 2024 awards.
Cyrus has long been teasing that her upcoming record would double as a visual album. In a November interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she revealed that she was taking inspiration from Pink Floyd’s The Wall — just with a “better wardrobe and more glamorous and filled with pop culture” — and noted that “the visual component of [my album] is driving the sound.”
“It was important for me that every song has these healing sound properties,” she added at the time. “The songs, whether they’re about destruction or heartbreak or death, they’re presented in a way that is beautiful, because the nastiest times of our life do have a point of beauty.”
Watch Cyrus’ new “Prelude” video above.
