Walking through the aisles of the department store, on a grueling shopping trip with your mom, you lose focus of what’s in front of you once a familiar tune plays in poor quality over the store speakers. “I can almost see it. That dream I am dreaming. There’s a voice inside my head saying, ‘you’ll never reach it.’” Suddenly this shopping trip becomes less insufferable as you and your mom begin to sing along to this emotional Miley Cyrus ballad together in the middle of the store. “Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side, it’s the climb.”

At just eleven years old, Miley Cyrus’s career started when she auditioned for the best friend role of Lily Truscott, but landed the lead in Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana.” The show had a combination  of original music and a dramatic storyline, and became a huge success. In addition, as the official title of Hannah Montana, Cyrus began massive stadium tours to jumpstart her music career. 

Cyrus’s debut album “Meet Miley Cyrus” came out in 2007 shortly after the premiere of her Disney Channel show. Although her show preached the idea of  “the best of both worlds,” Cyrus’s life as a recording artist took priority over her brief acting career. 

Since ending her television career, Cyrus has released albums every two years. Over time, Cyrus’s studio albums have evolved stylistically, and on March 10, Cyrus released her newest album “Endless Summer Vacation.” This album features 13 songs, a majority of which are candid breakup songs. In an Instagram post, Cyrus shared her thoughts about the album from a production standpoint. “[Endless Summer Vacation] feels like it’s kind of a concoction of all of the best of those sounds that I’ve tried out,” Cyrus said.  

For those who keep up with pop culture drama, it’s well-known that Cyrus’s relationship with actor Liam Hemsworth provided the paparazzi with headlines for years.They were forced to disclose private details of their relationship due to the public prying into their business. They experienced one called off engagement, leaving each other, rekindling their love, a successful engagement, and ultimately a short-lived marriage. Cyrus went through a fairly public, two year-long divorce from Hemsworth. The events of Cyrus’s 20’s  have fueled the main theme for the new album: heartbreak. 

Cyrus sought to have a conversational album, with songs that would feel raw and would allow her to open up  about the relationship hardships she experienced. In an interview published on her Instagram page on March 12, Cyrus was very transparent about the intentions of the album. “If you are a friend of mine, if you’re close to me and you listen to this album, it sounds like a conversation with me,” Cyrus said. “There’s subtle shade, there’s, you know honesty, and truth, and there’s some wisdom, and there’s some humor, and there’s some heaviness and depth.” Cyrus worked to create an album that would resonate with her audience, allowing a sense of closeness with listeners. “It really represents who I am, and I feel that the greatest records I’ve been able to make, and songs I’ve been able to write, do exactly that,” Cyrus said. “They just really connect me and whoever’s listening in a way that feels like an intimate, honest conversation.” 

The album opens up with “Flowers,” which was the first single for the album. The disco pop song was released in mid-January and was an immediate hit, spending seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Charts. The single and music video follow a girl that explores individuality and confidence within the relationship she is currently in. It follows Cyrus’s journey to eventually realizing her life would be happier and healthier if she focused on self-care over prioritizing her time towards an unbeneficial relationship. The easter eggs within this song were rumored to be about her relationship with actor Liam Hemsworth. In her recent performance film called “Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions),” Cyrus shares her stories behind the true meaning of the songs on the album. “There’s a lot of sadness to it, on the first chorus, I am trying to convince myself,” Cyrus said. “But, by the third chorus you can hear the confidence that I finally believe it.” 

The first collaboration on the album is titled “Thousand Miles,” which features Brandi Carlile. Although the  country-pop ballad has an upbeat and positive sound, the real meaning behind the lyrics are less optimistic. In the performance film, Cyrus also shared the emotional meaning behind what sounded like a joyful song: “When I wrote ‘Thousand Miles,’ it was after one of my very close friends lost her sister to suicide and I just couldn’t imagine not having my little sister in my life,” Cyrus said. Especially throughout this album, Cyrus displays her emotions through lyrics that relate to her difficult times. This specific song explores sisterhood and how crucial this relationship has played in her life. “This song was originally called ‘Happy Girl’ and it was [written with the lyrics], ‘I just want to see you happy and all I really want is just for you to be happy girl.’ It was just about happiness and sisterhood.” Cyrus’s emotions behind writing the song were clearly drastically different from the production perspective. “It just makes me emotional because now the song is filled with so much joy in the music and it has become something so far from the sadness that inspired the song,” Cyrus said. 

“Endless Summer Vacation” deserves a five star rating. Even if Cyrus’s music isn’t typically your style, this album is one that can really be appreciated by the casual listener. She put immense emotion into each song along with refreshing vocals and stylistic creativity. Despite the breakup-inspired meaning of the album, it has potential to put you into the right mood. It has a summery feeling that everyone has been craving after a dry spell of album releases throughout the cold winter months. As the weather gets warmer, streams of “Endless Summer Vacation” will increase with the temperature. 

Listeners can stream the album on any platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube Music. Cyrus also released recorded performances of songs from this album and others on Disney Plus under the title “Miley Cyrus Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions).”