Miley Cyrus enjoys endless summer

I do not know if Miley Cyrus now feels that she has finally been able to accomplish what she had been trying to do all these years. That is get out of the Disney wholesome mold she was cast into when she was cast as Hannah Montana when she was only 12 years old.

Scandalous, that was what Miley had been since leaving the Hannah Montana TV series.  What do you think were the likes of her abbreviated red-carpet outfits, her twerking while singing Blurred Lines with Robin Thicke, her nudity, save for a pair of brown boots for The Wrecking Ball video, plus albums like Bangerz, Can’t be Tamed, Plastic Hearts and others.

You can also throw in her much-talked about on and off engagement to Australian actor Liam Hemsworth, their marriage, then separation, which was followed by Miley taking up with a female influencer soon after he filed for divorce.

It is now 15 years later and Miley’s career is once more on the upswing. So, I now ask, “Has she exorcised Hannah Montana out of her career path? It looks like she has. Has she found a new relationship that is hopefully faithful and stable? I hope she has. And it all seems like she has because her latest hit song Flowers has the looks of a cathartic confessional.

Every girl consumed by heartbreak should be force-fed Flowers. This is sung by a woman who has woken up from a bad dream which she nurtured for a long time as the result of being in love. She is now ready to love herself better. It goes like this.

“We were good/we were gold/kinda dream that can’t be sold/we were right ‘til we weren’t/built a home and watched it burn.

“Mm, I didn’t wanna leave you/I didn’t wanna lie/Started to cry but then remembered I…

“I can buy myself flowers/write my name in the sand/talk to myself for hours/say things you don’t understand/I can take myself dancing/and I can hold my own hand/Yeah I can love me better than you can.

“Can love me better/I can love me better, baby/Can love me better/I can love me better, baby…

“Paint my nails cherry red/match the roses that you left/no remorse, no regret/I forgive every word you said…”

Flowers was instantly regarded as Miley’s song for Liam and for a while, it was what the media were hot about. Could be so. She dropped the single on his birthday last Jan. 13. And I came across no denial from Miley’s end.

Whether that is true or not does not matter anymore. What happened was that Miley has taken a page out of the Taylor Swift songwriting handbook and used that stormy relationship to revive her career.

Flowers is not just a hit song but a huge seller. As a woman who decided to love herself a most effective rah-rah banner for woman empowerment. Best of all, the single turned out to be the carrier for her best album to date.

Touted as a love letter to Los Angeles, Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation is loud, synth-filled, daring and filled with diverse rhythms. It has R&B in the stellar piano-driven love song You, electronica in the hazy charm of Handstand. You can dance to the retro disco of River or go on a country ride with Brandi Carlile in A Thousand Miles. Maybe even champion women’s strengths once more in the acoustic pop of Wonder Woman.

Endless Summer Vacation could have been a hodge-podge, but thanks to that confessional intro provided by Flowers, it is also strangely coherent. Its entirety evokes summer as a time of letting loose and in Miley’s case, letting go. And through it all, there is her powerful voice telling a break-up story so effectively. The result is one of the most satisfying listens I have had these past months.

Move over Harry. Time to relinquish that player. It is time for Miley to take over.