Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation

"Flowers" arrived on January 12, 2023, went straight to number one, and stayed there long enough to become the defining pop single of the year. It won Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 2024 Grammys, the first wins of Cyrus' career. The album it introduced turned out to be her most assured and least self-conscious record.

Cyrus split Endless Summer Vacation into an AM side and a PM side, and the sequencing earns the conceit. The first half is bright and open, with "Jaded" and "Rose Colored Lenses" trading in the kind of warm California rock she has been circling for years, and "Thousand Miles" pairing her with Brandi Carlile over harmonica and harmony. The back half goes lower and later: "River" is a straight disco-house rush, "Muddy Feet" brings Sia in for the record's angriest three minutes, and "Wonder Woman" closes things alone at a piano.

Produced largely with Kid Harpoon, Greg Kurstin, and Mike WiLL Made-It, it is the album where Cyrus stopped reinventing herself every cycle and simply sounded like herself.