Noah Cyrus leans into grief, growth, and home on her most grounded record yet.
Noah Cyrus’ second studio album, I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me, is a love letter to her inner child, her Nashville roots, and the music that shaped her.
Across 11 tracks, the 25-year-old leans into a more grounded sound, embracing country–folk and Americana while holding onto the emotional pop and lyrical introspection — a blend that nestles her comfortably into the lineage she’s carving her place within.
Co-produced by Australian PJ Harding and Mike Crossey, the album features guest appearances from Fleet Foxes, Blake Shelton, Ella Langley and Bill Callahan.
While sonically rooted in pedal steel, acoustic guitars and sparse arrangements, the songwriting remains front and centre.
It’s reflective, unflinching and emotionally direct.
Cyrus has said the project was largely shaped by the passing of her grandfather, to whom the album is dedicated.
The title comes from a phrase he often used, “I want my loved ones to go with me.” Much of the writing process took place in the weeks following his death, lending the album a sense of stillness and a gentle weight.
Grief sits quietly beside moments of contemplation and acceptance.
Don’t Put It All On Me, her duet with Fleet Foxes, leans into the complexity of family ties — a thread that continues in I Saw the Mountains where layered instrumentation blend with country balladry.
On New Country, her collaboration with Blake Shelton, reflects on identity and the pull of home.
The album closes with XXX, a stripped-back performance alongside Bill Callahan that carries the closing moments with care and clarity.
While her 2022 debut The Hardest Part hinted at this direction, I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me feels more rooted.
Less searching and more sure of itself. It is the sound of an artist not reinventing nor arriving, but perhaps coming home.
Cyrus launched the album with a sold out show at the Ford Theatre in Los Angeles and will tour North America from September.
Review by Loc Ziesling.
