AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Noah Cyrus has a deep attachment to family. When the music artist was a kid, she could even be a little protective.
NOAH CYRUS: I went to Sunday school, and my Sunday school teacher was literally my grandma. I remember there was this little girl, and her and me - we would, like, fight over my grandma, Mammy, Loretta. She'd say, my - no, that's my mammy. I would be like, no, that's my grandma, you know?
RASCOE: (Laughter) Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF NOAH CYRUS SONG, "WITH YOU")
RASCOE: Noah Cyrus is now releasing an album that pays homage to her family, present and past generations.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WITH YOU")
CYRUS: (Singing) Look around you, feel it in the air. Look around you, knowing that I care. Just listen in the wind. Know that I'm your friend and always with you. Thinking about the time we shared good, all the bad we bared, and I miss you.
RASCOE: Noah Cyrus' father is the country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Her sister, the pop star Miley Cyrus. And the singer Braison Cyrus is her brother. They all follow in the footsteps of Noah's great-grandfather, who wrote hymns. Noah Cyrus' new album nods towards this musical legacy. It's called "I Want My Loved Ones To Go With Me." Noah and I recently spoke about it. She opened up about the challenge of developing a sense of individuality when you come from such a prominent family.
CYRUS: When you're younger, I think that's something that you battle. But, you know, I'm 25, and I feel like I've worked really hard to get over that challenge in my own eyes and I think also, you know, in others. That was something that I just knew would happen in time with my music and by growing. And this album - it has so many different people and relationships that I touch on.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WITH YOU")
CYRUS: (Singing) So just know inside through this lonely life that I'm with you.
RASCOE: Well, you talked about how you're 25 now, this is your second album and how you know more who you are. So who is Noah Cyrus now?
CYRUS: Noah Cyrus is somebody that carries herself with strength and poise and offers love and gratitude because I think I was so sad and didn't know who I was for a really long time. And I didn't feel like I was a good friend to people, and I felt like I was a bad daughter, a bad girlfriend, a bad person.
RASCOE: Why? Why did you feel like you were bad at those things?
CYRUS: You know, I think that was my anxiety and my depression, that voice inside my head that just told me I wasn't good enough. And I think - so Noah Cyrus right now is, you know, happy, and I feel this weight lifted off of my shoulders because I know there are things that happen that we cannot change and that are not in my control, and I need to just let happen. You know, I think that's kind of the point of the song "Way Of The World" on my album.
RASCOE: That's a short song, but it gets to the - I mean, that's the way of the world, right? Like, that's - it gets right to it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WAY OF THE WORLD")
CYRUS: (Singing) The first thing you learn is grieving and loss, 'cause you can't return to the safe place you lost. From your mother's womb into the chaos of a cold hospital room.
For me, like, I'm so attached to my mom. I'm also a daddy's girl. I'm a both of them girl. Like, I just, like - through and through, I love my parents so much, and I'm so lucky to have that relationship with my parents. But, like, the first day of school, I remember that so much because I was so sad and heartbroken.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WAY OF THE WORLD")
CYRUS: (Singing) And I cried on the side of the curb. Yeah, the panic set in, and it hurt. Oh, but that's just the way that it works, the way of the world.
RASCOE: When you talked about your parents - and, obviously, you know, it's no secret that your parents, Billy Ray and Tish - they recently went through a divorce. Was that hard for you? I mean, not to get into the details or anything, but how are you doing now? - because these are the sorts of things that happen in families.
CYRUS: It's exactly that. That's - you know, that's what happens in families, and that's the way of the world, girl.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Yes, yeah, yes, yes.
CYRUS: This album for me is like, hey, I'm human.
RASCOE: Yeah, 'cause you have that song, "Long Ride Home," and I, you know, really could connect with that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LONG RIDE HOME")
CYRUS: (Singing) This is going to be a long ride home. In the silence of your eyes, I hear the road. The air is thick and cold as stone. And I'm not speaking if you won't.
RASCOE: Yeah, I mean, and I think we've all been there, where it's like, you get into it with a person, whoever it is. And then it's - we then stop talking, but it's thick. The air is thick.
CYRUS: Yeah. I wrote that song back in 2020, when I was in my past relationship. Through and through, I just feel like the relationship was dangerous. I completely lost who I was. I was neglecting myself and my family, and I was also really mentally unhealthy.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LONG RIDE HOME")
CYRUS: (Singing) Two bodies cold and all alone. I think the wheels have left the road.
Some of the things I'm trying to say is that you can always reach out for help, and I know it's really hard to get to that point because I had to get to a breaking point to want to ask for help. I can't tell you if that was the loss of my grandmother, but there are hotlines. There are people who love you. There always is at least one friend.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LONG RIDE HOME")
CYRUS: (Singing) This is going to be a long ride home.
RASCOE: You know, you talked about being in Sunday school, and your great-grandfather wrote hymns. What is the influence of your faith or God on your music?
CYRUS: Specifically in this record, especially in the title, "I Want My Loved Ones To Go With Me," growing up in church, we're told and we believe that we will see our loved ones again in heaven one day. God has always been a constant. I grew up with a grandma that wouldn't let us cuss. You know, we couldn't even say fart. She would say, Noah Lindsey, you did not just say F-A-R-T.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Yeah.
CYRUS: But I've always kept that faith in God and that hope and that belief that in heaven, we will be all reunited. And I will see my grandmother again. And I will see my - we're a dog family. We've had so many dogs. So, you know, I'm always looking up, like, do dogs go to heaven? And, like, you know, but...
RASCOE: (Laughter) Yeah, yeah.
CYRUS: Faith and spirituality - it's really just filled with love.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE IS A CANYON")
CYRUS: (Singing) Love is a canyon, it's beautifully true.
RASCOE: That's the music artist Noah Cyrus. She has a new album out. It's called "I Want My Loved Ones To Go With Me." Thank you so much for joining us.
CYRUS: My love, thank you so much for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE IS A CANYON")
CYRUS: (Singing) But down here I'm an echo, shouting up into... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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