Miley Cyrus Tells Fans to Ditch Their Phones and Dance Along to New Song and Music Video, ‘Bass Persuades’
By Website Content Manager
Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media Inc.
The pop star looks back fondly on a simpler, pre-digital time as her latest track critiques the growing obsession with screens and smartphones.
The Grammy-winning artist unveiled “Bass Persuades” on Thursday, Sept. 3, introducing the first taste of her forthcoming 10th studio album, which shares the song’s title. The track is accompanied by a music video helmed by Cyrus’ longtime creative collaborator, Mert Alas.
For this new musical era, Cyrus is simplifying her stage name to simply Miley, dropping her surname as part of the album’s new chapter.
“Bass Persuades” blends retro ’80s-style synthesizers with an energetic dance-pop production. Throughout the song, Cyrus takes aim at the constant pull of smartphones, screens and the hectic pace of contemporary life. Her message is straightforward: put the phone aside, forget the outside noise and move to the music.
The repeated line “The kids don’t want to dance” sets up the song’s main theme, followed by Cyrus’ invitation to “surrender to the night.”
The lyrics also touch on the experience of being constantly attached to a phone and evoke an earlier era by mentioning the absence of MTV. Those references give the track a nostalgic quality while reinforcing its criticism of today’s digital distractions.
That call to dance comes to life visually in the accompanying music video.
Cyrus begins the video dressed in a leather hat, black bralette and coordinating black trousers. As the performance continues, she switches to a more revealing ensemble featuring a black bralette, high-waisted underwear, stockings and heels, with leather accessories added throughout.
Surrounded by backup dancers, Cyrus gradually expands the choreography from a more contained performance into a much larger celebration. The video eventually spills into the streets, where a growing group of dancers joins her as she turns the city into one massive dance floor.
The visual serves as a fitting introduction to an album built around Cyrus’ belief in music’s ability to influence and move people.
When she revealed the album on Instagram on Sept. 1, Cyrus explained that the title reflects the way music can emotionally and physically affect us.
“Music takes hold of us,” she wrote, describing how people experience it through singing, dancing and simply allowing themselves to feel. She added that the record encompasses everything from happiness and heartbreak to the emotions found between those extremes, and expressed her hope that fans would connect with the album.
“Bass Persuades” follows Cyrus’ 2025 album Something Beautiful. However, the singer had already begun teasing her next project before its official announcement. On Aug. 30, she posted a series of red-toned photographs of herself, followed two days later by a black-and-white clip showing her playing electric guitar alongside a rock-inspired rhythm.
Cyrus, 33, also gave fans an early indication of the album’s emotional direction during a July conversation with Daryl Hannah for Wonderland. She characterized the upcoming project as a love story but stressed that its themes go beyond a straightforward romance.
According to Cyrus, the album reflects the different layers of love and mirrors the stage of life she is currently experiencing. While romance plays a role throughout the record, she described the story as more complex and multifaceted than a conventional love narrative.
