“Rooted in Americana, indie folk, and country music,” Noah Cyrus‘ second album, I WANT MY LOVED ONES TO GO WITH ME, finds the artist working on themes of family and nature.
Set for a July 11 release, a press release noted that the album includes songs with two special “Nashville guests,” Ella Langley and Blake Shelton.
Described as an “immersive interpretation of country music,” the press release notes, “She tip-toed around the genre on her full-length debut, 2022’s The Hardest Part, but throws herself headlong into its sounds on I WANT MY LOVED ONES TO GO WITH ME.”
This comes as Noah admits she has struggled to “trust in [her] own choices,” saying,“I had to learn how to make decisions for myself and make that transition into adulthood, but I’ve found who I am, I know who I am, and this record shows what I had inside me all this time.”
As the youngest child of country star Billy Ray Cyrus, she said she’s beginning to becoming more comfortable with her country roots, especially as she sees the genre expanding.
Of the album I WANT MY LOVED ONES TO GO WITH ME, Noah said:
“It’s this much more true Americana folk, sort of indie country approach. It’s kind of a mix of a lot of genres, which is what I love so much about country music right now. The genre is so much more open.”
Included on the tracklist for Noah’s new album are “Way Of The World,” featuring Ella Langley; and “New Country,” featuring Blake Shelton.
Released on Friday, June 20, “New Country” finds Noah and Blake singing a duet for much of the duration of the song.
Starting with a lone acoustic guitar, a solo Noah joins in, singing the first verse before Blake accompanies her in this country-tinged ballad.
Together, they sing:
This is walking through a wildfire. This is learning how to live and not just stay alive. This is high stakes that you might lose, but when you know there’s nothing to go back to, then you have to find a new country.”
From there, the sentiment of “new country” is repeated, bringing to the forefront the notion of the country music genre as a whole.
Speaking on the upcoming album as a whole, Noah said something that describes her duet with Blake quite well, saying, “I want to evoke that feeling of a comforting friend that a song can be — and allow us all to heal.”
Listen to “New Country,” here:
Leading up to the release of “New Country,” Noah shared a video of herself wearing a Blake Shelton trucker cap on TikTok, singing along to the chorus of their new song:
“The most important element, aside from the music, is the visuals that beautifully represent and convey the story being told. In this instance, I wanted to continue with the narrative and depiction of the unbreakable bond between humans and animals, particularly a horse that symbolizes a relationship I once had with my beloved real-life horse, Constantine, who passed away.”
On the podcast Sorry We’re Cyrus, 25-year-old Noah recalled that her horse, Constantine, died when she was 16, but said that she felt “so close to him” while filming the music videos for “I Saw The Mountains” and “Don’t Put It All On Me.”
“Watching that 1,400-pound animal die in my arms was such a traumatic experience for me. I still grieve it, like, every day, and having this representation of him in the music videos is so healing for me.”
The horse in her recent music videos is named Moonstone, she revealed.
With sweeping camera movements, and equestrian gear from a bygone era, Noah cites visual influences like the video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, as influencing the fantasy aesthetic of her music videos.
Further, the music videos call to mind the look of Nico’s 1970 album Desertshore, which was produced alongside Philippe Garrel’s music film The Inner Scar (1972).
Watch the music video for Noah’s “I Saw The Mountains,” which is dedicated to the memory of her late horse Constantine, here:
