With a delicate balance of soft intonation and belting vocals, Noah Cyrus gives it her all in her most recent single and music video “Lonely.” Garnering over 1 million views on YouTube a week after its release with a healthy amount of likes, Noah gains another success to add to her growing repertoire.
“Lonely” is a sad tale of love and loss and mostly the latter. In a stunningly simplistic music video, the singer opens up about mistakes and a barren heart.
We see Noah kneeling on the floor dressed in black, surrounded by a blank, white set. Looking straight into the camera she croons, “I’m slowly killing myself. I’m trying so hard at the back of the shelf.” It’s just her, a piano and simple chords as she sings her hurt.
As she moves past the first verse and into the chorus, we are met with choral-style vocals that embody a compelling emotion. Noah falls to the floor, only to scramble towards the now-present extras on set. She grasps at them begging for attention, for help, to which they don’t bat an eye. “Please someone help me. I don’t care anyone, anything,” she cries. Her audience is apathetic.
As the music crescendos, Cyrus levitates off the floor. She is suspended, vulnerable above them as the piano pounds out its chords. She spins forward, tumbling around with hair loose and limbs flailing. She’s unstable and insecure, shown beautifully in the camera work.
Gravity returns, she crashes to the floor, and with her final, sad lines, pulls into herself. The video’s black and white visuals foster a melancholic feel and as her arms come to cradle her knees as we are left with an empathetic feel for her. Many of us can relate to her message.
It’s no surprise Noah Cyrus was gifted with artistic and musical talents. Her father Billy Ray Cyrus and sister Miley Cyrus both have been met with public success. Noah remains a lesser figure, though that may be partially due to her age. She’s only 19 years old and will probably gain recognition as her musical career progresses. Regardless, she found success with her 2016 single “Make Me (Cry)” that truly began her rise to stardom.
For such a young artist, Noah Cyrus is surprisingly raw with her audience. Part of why she makes music, she says, is to give people something to connect with. On Instagram she wrote, “All of my heart and soul is in this song.”
We can only hope Cyrus decides to create more music soon. The singer has yet to release a full album-length work, instead creating singles and several EP’s.
