Review: In her new single, Miley Cyrus says she's growing up at age 30

POP/ROCK

Miley Cyrus, "Used to Be Young"

"You say I used to be wild, I say I used to be young," Cyrus sings on the muted, introspective new ballad "Used to Be Young." The timing of the single's release is canny: Cyrus gave her infamous, twerk-seen-'round-the-world MTV Video Music Awards performance 10 years ago. Cyrus, now 30, isn't chiding her younger self or expressing regrets here, though — "I know I used to be crazy, messed up, but God was it fun," she sings with an audible grin — so much as she is asserting her right to grow and change. Though "Used to Be Young" starts out quiet, it gradually builds in intensity, culminating in a finale that allows Cyrus to showcase the full power of her grainy drawl.

LINDSAY ZOLADZ, New York Times

Prince, "Alice Through the Looking Glass"

The teaser for the next much-expanded Prince reissue — "Diamonds and Pearls," due Oct. 27 — is a falsetto funk tune about a woman with a mysterious but alluring occupation. "Some call it a curse, some call it sweet salvation/No one can deny the stimulation," Prince sings over a skulking synth-bass line. The lyrics stay ambiguous, but the groove tells its own sensual story.

JON PARELES, New York Times

"I know he'll be a mess when I break the news/but I'll be single soon," Gomez exults in her ultra-smiley new single. It's a triumphal march about all the prerogatives of moving on — "I'm gonna do what I wanna do" — with giggles in the backup track as she decides it's "Time to try another one." Like Taylor Swift's "Blank Space," it celebrates the choices ahead.

JON PARELES, New York Times

COUNTRY

Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, "I Remember Everything"

This wrenching highlight from Bryan's new self-titled album is a he-said/she-said account of a failed whiskey-soaked romance, set to a forlorn chord progression. "A cold shoulder at closing time, you were begging me to stay 'til the sun rose," Bryan sings in his aching croak, before Musgraves enters with a pointed question: "You're drinking everything to ease your mind, but when the hell are you gonna ease mine?"

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