Miley Cyrus will be going back to basics with the release of “Malibu” — her new single, and first original music as a lead artist since 2015 — next Thursday, May 11.
In her candid cover story with Billboard, Miley reveals that the single — named after the California beach community where she currently resides — was written on the way to a taping of The Voice. “I drive myself everywhere, but that day I decided to Uber,” she recalls. “I was trying not to sing out loud because someone else was in the car.”
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The song, which Miley dubs “controversial in its sweetness,” and which writer John Norris describes as “gimmick-free pop-rock unlike anything she has recorded before,” is said to be about her fiance Liam Hemsworth. “I never would’ve believed you if three years ago you told me I’d be here writing this song,” Cyrus sings on the track. “But here I am, next to you, the sky so blue, in Malibu.”
“They’re going to talk about me if I come out of a restaurant with Liam,” Cyrus explains in the story. “So why not put the power back in my relationship and say, ‘This is how I feel’?”
Read our full cover story here, look out for “Malibu” on May 11, and keep an eye out for its video, co-directed by Cyrus and “We Can’t Stop” collaborator Diane Martel, coming soon.