“We’ve been in this room a lot,” says Brandi Cyrus to a packed and cozy room inside Los Angeles’ famed Chateau Marmont.
Tonight, she’s returned – alongside her mom Tish Cyrus and other family and friends, including actress Anya Taylor-Joy – to celebrate the release of her sister Miley’s forthcoming ninth album, Something Beautiful, out Friday (May 30).
Hosted by TikTok for Miley’s superfans, the superstar personally invited those in the room. And while they knew they would be among the first to hear her new album – the event was billed as a listening session – what they didn’t know was that Miley would be performing songs old and new.
After singing along to already-released tracks including “Something Beautiful,” “End of the World,” “More to Lose” and the much-teased “Easy Lover,” Something Beautiful‘s remaining six songs (not including interludes) earned a variety of first takes. “This is a long one,” said one fan of “Golden Burning Sun.” And of “Pretend You’re God” another said it was reminiscent of “Midnight Sky,” while another questioned if they heard saxophone, though their friend was too busy dancing to answer. Second to last track “Reborn” sounds like it could have existed on Lady Gaga’s Mayhem in another form and closing track “Give Me Love” caused a hush to fall over the crowd. “No skips,” said one fan over applause.
As the room started to realize the album was over, heads slowly craned to the back entrance. “Is she coming?” whispered one fan, wondering if Miley would show. And at promptly 6:59 p.m., she did.
Joined by dummer Maxx Morando, guitarist Jonathan Rado and pianist Michael Pollack – all of whom co-wrote and or co-produced on the album – Cyrus opened with the ballad “More to Lose.” She then addressed the intimate room: “Playing these nights at Chateau, they were invite-only, super exclusive, just my closest friends and my family and this was the way I discovered the album. Because if it can’t stand up with me [and my band], then what are we even doing?”
“Because for me, I love making music with everybody on this carpet – I don’t do stages now,” she continued with a laugh. “Watching [the album] become this butterfly and have this metamorphosis and evolution, it’s so reflective of my life and everything I’m experiencing.”
Cyrus and her band then delivered the sultry “Easy Lover” followed by her Hot 100 No. 1 smash “Flowers” (“this has been one of the most exciting songs I have gotten to put out into the universe,” she said). And while starting to speak of her journey over the past two decades with her fans, she cautioned, “I’m not singing ‘The Climb,’ but I could…’” – and thankfully, Pollack took that as a green light to begin playing the song on keys. More thankfully, Miley took the bait and soared through a portion of the beloved hit. She then closed her 45-minute set with “End of the World.”
“We really did grow up together,” Miley said. “As we grow, there’s things we gain and things we leave behind – and I’ve never wanted that to be you.”
She then teased that Something Beautiful is “just the appetizer,” revealing, “My next album is about to be extremely experimental, so have fun with that.”
As Brandi said earlier of her sister, “her evolution is always a surprise…I have personally seen the passion and precision she pours into every detail … it’s why everything she does is so sickening.”
“Thank you for being here with our family and close friends in this amazing, special place,” Brandi concluded.
And for longtime Miley fans, it’s not only a special place but a sacred one, too. As Miley mentioned, we’ve all seen the clips online of her performing at the Chateau for a chosen few as she pieced her album together. But tonight, it was her biggest fans who were the chosen ones — and it really was something beautiful.
