Miley Cyrus marked her long-awaited return to music with the release of her breezy new single "Malibu," the first cut lifted from her as-yet-untitled album that is due later this year. The new track sees Cyrus taking on a new musical direction that departs from 2013's daring Bangerz album and 2015's doozy Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz LP, with fresh pop-rock arrangements and her disarming vocals driving the lovestruck lyrics.
The song came into fruition during her Uber ride down California's Pacific Coast Highway where she was inspired by Malibu's scenic coastline. The song serves as a sweet ode to her fiancé Liam Hemsworth, as well as a song about growing out of her controversial past and settling down for a lowkey lifestyle with lyrics like, "I never would've believed you/ If three years ago you told me/ I'd be here writing this song."
"Three years ago, if you really want to be serious, I was sliding down my own tongue riding a giant hotdog across 20,000 people," she told On Air with Ryan Seacrest about her former shock value that she has now retired. "So I never would've thought I would've been in a calm place in my life where different things are more important to me now. Now, I care more about balloons. Then it was, 'There has to be mustard on the hotdog!' And now I'm a vegan for crying out loud! Things have really changed, a lot. It's really about these last three years. I never would've thought I would've been sitting here, ever."
Although "Malibu" is barely 24 hours old, she is already pumped to release her next single and shoot its accompanying music video. On the new 11-track collection, the singer revealed she has a song that was written in a dream featuring her little sister Noah Cyrus.
"We were going to a movie theatre and the song that I hadn't yet written came on the radio; it was like your show," she explained. "[Noah] was like, 'That's such a good song! This is a hit!' and I said, 'I wish I would've written it,' because it was someone else singing it in my dream. Then I woke up the next day and I was sure it was a real song and this had happened – and it wasn't! It was a song that I then got to write which was very cool."
On the forthcoming album's style, Cyrus described it as a unique signature that was inspired by working with producers like Mike Will Made It and Dr. Luke, as well as music she grew up listening to like Johnny Cash and The Flaming Lips.
"From anyone I've worked with, I just tried to take little pieces of that because that's what's making me who I am. So my sound is really just me and I've really been influenced by a lot," she said. "All of that is in there and I've just tried to learn so now I can record my own vocals, write my own lyrics, and be kind of a one-stop-shop. The less people around when I'm being creative, the better."
Cyrus will perform "Malibu" for the first time at KIIS FM's Wango Tango this Saturday. Held at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, the show will feature Katy Perry, Backstreet Boys, Niall Horan, Hailee Steinfeld, Halsey, Julia Michaels, Maroon 5, and many more on the main stage.
"My dilemma this morning is, how do we get double the balloons to Wango Tango? We have about 1200 already, so I need more balloons!" she teased. "People are really loving the balloons from the video, so I think I'm just going to swarm them with 'em."
Wango will kick off with a Daytime Village pre-show starting at 11 a.m. The Village is free to the general public and will see performances by Aaron Carter, Olivia Holt, Noah Cyrus, Jordan Fisher, Ocean Park Standoff, and Hey Violet.
Original article by Marc Inocencio at iHeartRadio