Noah Cyrus’s Second Album Features Family Tunes, And Country Stars
Released on Friday, July 11, Noah Cyrus‘ second album, I WANT MY LOVED ONES TO GO WITH ME, finds the artist working on the themes of family and nature, all while embracing something she had “tip-toed around” in the past: her country music heritage.
Described as an “immersive interpretation of country music,” which is infused with Americana and folk music, the album includes songs with two special “Nashville guests,” Ella Langley and Blake Shelton.
The album also includes ghosts of the Cyrus family past, as the album takes its name from the title of a hymn her great grandfather, Rev. Eldon Lindsey Cyrus, wrote. Audio of this hymn being recited by her grandfather, Ron Cyrus, can be heard on the aptly titled song “Apple Tree,” showing that the apple truly does not fall far from the Cyrus tree.
Further, Noah sings another song that holds a special place in the Cyrus family. While it was never recorded by her father, country icon Billy Ray Cyrus, “With You” was the first song Billy ever wrote.
Now, we can hear this song that preceded the 1992 release of Billy’s breakout hit album Some Gave All, as sung by his youngest child.
Even the song “Don’t Put It All On Me,” which features the band Fleet Foxes, was written by her brother, Braison Cyrus.
According to Noah, I WANT MY LOVED ONES TO GO WITH ME is the product of her learning “how to make decisions for [herself].”
She added, “I’ve found who I am, I know who I am, and this record shows what I had inside me all this time. This album is me.”
Ella Langley And Blake Shelton Collaborate With Noah Cyrus
Included on the tracklist for Noah’s new album are “Way Of The World,” featuring Ella Langley; and “New Country,” featuring Blake Shelton.
On the July 10 episode of the podcast Sorry We’re Cyrus, Noah said of her decision to reach out to Blake for a collaboration, “I just had this voice inside me — I sound just like Dad — where it was just like this voice from God telling me that, like, you are supposed to do this with Blake Shelton.”
It was a thing of conviction for Noah to have Blake on her song “New Country,” and she said, “Blake just did a great, great, great job on the record … It’s an honor to do something with Blake.”
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.
“New Country” was released a few weeks before the album, and its music video was released the same day the album was released, on July 11. Watch Blake and Noah sing “New Country” together, here:
As for “Way Of The World,” featuring Ella Langley, Noah recalled on the July 10 episode of the podcast Sorry We’re Cyrus that she told Ella to “channel Stevie [Nicks].”
This is fitting, as Ella is a big fan of Stevie Nicks, with the artist singing Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and “Rhiannon” with some frequency while on tour in support of her album, Hungover.
Hear Ella Langley sing with Noah Cyrus, here:
Noah Cyrus Sings Billy Ray Cyrus’ First Song, And Other Family Tunes
In a press release, Noah said of her father, “My dad is one of my biggest influences,” Noah says. “He turned me on to so many great songs and artists. My musical inspirations came from somewhere, and more often than not, it’s been him.”
Before he broke the record as the solo male artist with most copies of a debut album sold, set with Some Gave All in 1992, Billy Ray Cyrus wrote a song called “With You.”
The song was never recorded by Billy, and it shouldn’t be confused with his song “Without You,” from his 2000 album Southern Rain.
In the song, Noah sings her father’s words:
“Just listen in the wind and know that I’m your friend, and always with you.”
Listen to it, here:
Speaking on the July 10 episode of Sorry We’re Cyrus, Noah spoke of on her great grandfather, Rev. Eldon Lindsey Cyrus, and how his hymn found its way into her second album.
“[“Apple Tree”] is about believing that there is a heaven and that you will see your loved ones again, and that you hope not one of them doesn’t make it in, because you’re never going to see them again,” Noah said.
“There’s just so much history … within that track, I feel so much, like, beyond just like my great grandfather,” she said. “I feel like the spirits of my ancestors, and, like, those who were, like, literally, at the start of country music.”
Looking to her family’s roots in Appalachia, she said there were an “array of inspirations,” adding, “We have so much music that we’re inspired by from there and so many different sounds that we incorporated on the record as well.”
Listen to “Apple Tree,” here:
Related: Noah Cyrus Will Embrace Her Country Heritage On Next Album
Making Her Grand Ole Opry Debut
On Saturday, July 12, the day after the release of I WANT MY LOVED ONES TO GO WITH ME, Noah will be making her debut at the Grand Ole Opry.
“I’ve never played the Opry,” Noah said on Sorry We’re Cyrus. “Obviously, growing up, we saw Dad play the Opry all the time.”
Speaking on her memory of the Opry, Noah said, “I remember, like, as a little-little, I always felt like the Opry was haunted.”
Noah was born in 2000, so the Opry had only been at its present location for 26 years when she was born. Up until 1974, the Ryman Auditorium was the home of the Opry, with the current Opry preserving a portion of the wooden stage of the Ryman, called the circle.
Related: Noah Cyrus To Make Her Opry Debut