Country music has always been part of Noah Cyrus’s artistic DNA. If you look closely enough, it’s been a deep root that runs through her entire discography — not to mention, a central part of the family tree that includes her dad Billy Ray Cyrus and sister Miley.
But a sharp turn straight into country seems like far too obvious a path for a singer-songwriter who has quietly done her own thing. And while her music has always had a tinge of country traditions, Cyrus’s approach has always been a little more understated. Across EPs like The End of Everything and her gorgeous 2022 debut LP The Hardest Part, she’s kept the connection loose, weaving together more experimental takes on Americana, folk, and indie-rock. Her latest album I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me, however, has been touted as a dabble into the genre. It has come with moments like a recent Grand Opry performance that got her compared to Lucinda Williams. But rather than veering into mainstream styles, I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me continues Cyrus’s path of left-leaning, unexpected sound architecture. It’s gorgeously rendered — and very Noah.
She teams up with past collaborators Mike Crossey and PJ Harding again, maximizing their full chemistry together. Cyrus has never shied away from intensely personal lyricism; The Hardest Part stared down at heartbreak and substance abuse. Here, she explores the background and experiences that have shaped her. There’s a recording of her grandfather saying a prayer on “Apple Tree;” other songs touch lightly on the importance of family, at a time when the Cyrus clan has fought itself frequently in tabloids. But the most stunning thing on the album is its musicality, as Noah slides easily next to Fleet Foxes on the bucolic “Don’t Put It All On Me,” trades vocal acrobatics with Ella Langley on the twanging “Way of the World,” and duets warmly with lofi folk icon Bill Callahan on the album-closing “XXX.”
The swan-dive into country music could, on its face, seem like a ploy for more commercial ambitions, given country’s hold on popular music at the moment. But I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me is less opportunistic and more of a chance to go further into a sensibility that has always been there. Even songs that feel like they’d elicit an instant eye roll — the Blake Shelton collab “New Country” feels like the biggest offender at first glance — are strikingly pretty.
So much of Cyrus’ sound has been refined; The Hardest Part had an understated quality that avoided flashiness or theatrics, even while delving into serious issues of grief and addiction. A great deal of the album’s power comes from soaring, layered arrangements. The tide switches quickly on a lot of songs, driving them from one unexpected point to the next, like on the opening track “I Saw The Mountains.” Occasionally, the production can overwhelm what felt like a simpler signature on Noah’s past albums — a song like “Long Ride Home,” for example, meanders beautifully but loses some of its precision once more sounds come in. Yet as a whole, the project benefits from a fuller approach that feels like an artist coming into her own — it’s a sign of growth, it’s a testament to flourishing.
