Miley Cyrus is entering her Something Beautiful era. This morning, the singer released “Prelude,” her first track off of the visual album.
The song sets the tone for the work ahead; the accompanying video is arresting and includes imagery of flowers and Cyrus in archival 1997 Thierry Mugler couture. Cyrus also wears the ensemble on her album’s cover.
In the spoken lyrics of “Prelude,” Cyrus meditates on the untouchable nature of beauty and what draws us to it. The song’s last two lines are particularly profound, with Cyrus saying, “But the beauty one finds alone / Is a prayer that longs to be shared.”
Cyrus spoke to Harper’s Bazaar in November about how Something Beautiful will be “hypnotizing and glamorous.”
“It was inspired by Pink Floyd’s [visual album] The Wall,” she added. “We really leaned in. And so I have this heart-first attachment to it. My idea was making The Wall, but with a better wardrobe and more glamorous and filled with pop culture.”
The full album comes out on May 30. Watch the visual for “Prelude,” and read the full below.
Like when following an image from a train
Your eyes can’t keep the passing landscapes
From being swallowed into endless distance
Like when holding a fistful of ashes
Your hands can’t save the things that have already been dissolved into air
Like when facing the sun through a window
Your skin feels warmth
But it can’t be in the world that its warmth has made alive
Like walking alone through a lucid dream
Like saying your name aloud in an empty room
Like witnessing my body standing in a mirror
Aching to be seen, aching to become real
But the beauty one finds alone
Is a prayer that longs to be shared
