The first of three planned 2019 EPs,
SHE IS COMING finds
Miley Cyrus continuing her zigzag path through different genres and moods on each of her releases. On most of these six songs,
Cyrus veers away from the slightly more mature, country-tinged pop of 2017's
Younger Now in favor of a grab bag of sounds she's touched on before. She begins the EP with a pair of moody pop songs that attempt an edgier version of
Katy Perry,
Tove Lo, or
Sia's output. On the
Andrew Wyatt-produced "Mother's Daughter,"
Cyrus sounds more hungover than liberated when she sings "don't get in the way of my freedom," but it's still better than "Unholy," where her refrain of "let me do me" feels phoned in. Indeed, the most surprising thing about
SHE IS COMING is how detached she sounds on it. Even with a
Wu-Tang Clan sample and a somewhat disjointed cameo from
Ghostface Killah, "D.R.E.A.M." feels uninspired. On "Cattitude,"
RuPaul snatches the spotlight from
Cyrus so easily, it's almost cruel; similarly,
Swae Lee's slightly spacy vocals are a better fit for the late-night haze that
Cyrus'
Bangerz collaborator
Mike WiLL Made-It creates on "Party Up the Street." She's most genuine on "The Most," a twangy apology that -- following all of
SHE IS COMING's missteps -- feels like too little, too late in more ways than one.