Miley Cyrus Goes For A Spin On ‘Bangerz’ Rejects “Mustang” & “The Way I Feel”

Mike Nied | October 17, 2017 3:42 pm
Miley's 'Younger Now': Album Review
Miley Cyrus attempts a country-pop reinvention on her sixth LP with mixed results.

Miley Cyrus abandoned the slick club beats and bravado that defined Bangerz on her sixth LP, Younger Now. The resulting collection of country-pop love songs has become one of her most contentious releases to date, and it has struggled on the charts without a surefire radio hit. Fans who miss the brash fearlessness that defined her previous material are in for a treat as two tracks from the Bangerz sessions have made their way online.

This week both “Mustang” and the Tyler, The Creator-assisted “The Way I Feel” leaked. The pair of tracks were reportedly produced by Pharrell Williams, and they offer an additional taste of the hitmaker’s most successful era.

“Mustang” is a sparse, hip-hop inspired ballad that sounds like something Lana Del Rey would have recorded. It sees the hitmaker fawning over a flame’s car. “You drive a classic Mustang. The ones with the stock wheels you didn’t change, plus it has a new sound system that bangs. It makes me say ‘daaang.’ Will you take me for a spin,” she croons over atmospheric production. Fans were quick to point out Miley’s finance, Liam Hemsworth, drives the classic car leading to speculation that the song was about him. If so, it explains why it was removed from the track list, as the pair took a break from their relationship shortly before the LP’s release.

“The Way I Feel” is more of a straightforward pop bop that finds the “Can’t Be Tamed” siren in the heat of a relationship. She attempts to describe how their love makes her feel but struggles to come up with the right words. “I feel like I’m in love. It’s too much hype, just because I feel like sayin’ something that’s for us that defines what’s in our hearts,” she coos on the buoyant track. Tyler’s verse is surprisingly short, which leaves the focus on the shimmer of her young love. The track made its way to Jennifer Hudson when it was dropped from Bangerz, but hearing Miley’s original performance makes it all the more personal.

Neither of the tracks are as instant as the LP’s defining hits “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball,” but they are interesting to revisit now. Listen to both of them below!

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