#which yeah sounds like some fuck ass studio move but you’re telling me you’re Blake lively your husbands Ryan Reynolds two huge Hollywood

[rigginsstreet]

the thing about the blake lively smear campaign is that maybe a pr team was hired to make you look bad but like... we were all watching your interviews girl like it was your attitude and demeanor being judged and the fact you wanted a barbie fashionista moment over a movie about domestic violence while also promoting a hair care line that left people scratching their heads like... you gave them plenty of ammo to smear lmao

[allthecommas]

made to thrive

guysss so this is a meant-to-be pilot of the fic I started in March and never meant to publish!!!! might be a biiiit too long for tumblr but since i am still waiting for ao3 to let me in, here it goes

(pls be subtle, I really don’t write this much)

Bellamy x Raven

(multichapter fic since there’s way too few of them)

european setting au, modern setting au, bookstore au

word count: 2,665

Chapter one: van Goghs and cockroaches

Bellamy Blake couldn't really recall the last time he was so confused. And he has spent the last two months living in a bus with his at least slightly unstable little sister who clearly felt obliged to have him uncertain of his own bloodline at least four times per day.

It's been five years since he's moved to Galway. It's been four years since his odd father freed a studio apartment for him so he has somewhere nice to stay at and doesn't need to occupy a dorm room. It's been three years since he's been coming back on this exact day, October 11th, to the closest of home he has ever had.

And it's been solid 6 minutes of him staring at completely strange bags and a suitcase (a. goddamn. strange. suitcase.) for some reason placed chaotically on his bed.

His bed of 4 years.

He sat next to the suitcase exhaling loudly and put his phone out of his bag meaning to call Marcus and make him explain this unexpected occupation of his bedroom, when he heard the noise of the front door's locks. He rushed out to see and almost bumped into some blond chick, which made her drop the paper bag she must have been holding.

"What the fuck?!" she screeched, with pure horror in her baby blue eyes watching the liquids dripping on the floor through the paper.

"Yeah, what the fuck?" he echoed, taking a step back and crossing his arms on his chest.

"We need a wiper" she stated to herself rather than to him, ignoring his question and the Annoyed Face he put on, then turned around and made her way to the kitchen while he was focusing all his energy on standing there still and badass, not showing any sings of awkwardness nor inside imbalance.

"Make it quick, it's Macacauba!" He shouted to make himself look intimidating, just as if his knowledge of what Macacauba is could intimidate her and then consequently stared down at her while she was wiping the vegan yogurts off his floor, holding back the temptation of dropping 'you missed a spot' kind of comment.

"It's all your fault" she announced casually when she was done with cleaning and comfortably placed herself on a kitchen stool.

"Who the hell are you?" He cut, making it sound more like an accusation than an actual question.

She eyed him up and down, frowning.

"Certain Marcus did tell you."

"It's not the answer to my question" he said, realising that he hasn't moved for a little bit too long for someone who's not feeling caught off guard. "He didn't."

"But he must have" she argued "He discussed the content of the e-mail with me. Long ago. Back in May I suppose."

He tilted his head slightly in a ???? meme manner.

"He must have" the blonde repeated but her face softened. She stood up and walked up to him, with her right in the very front. "Anyhow. Clarke Griffin."

He looked at her hand suspiciously like it was about to bite him and didn't really let it show, but he recalled. He remembered. Early June, after the last time he has seen Kane, he in fact received an e-mail from him. Telling him about some Art student from Boston, some Clark, that will be staying in Galway for a year. He couldn't say he payed much attention to it though, his mind was already occupied with the road trip he and Octavia were planning and all the formalities he needed to have closed beforehand so he just slipped through the text and crafted a brief reply. But he could bet his left arm, there was nothing about this dude living in his house. Or about this dude being a chick.

All of this flashed in his head in a second before he forced his brows up and shook given hand.

"Since when is Clark a female name?" saying this seemed more appropriate that his name. "Clark Gable wasn't a chick."

"It's Clarke with an "e"."

•••

"Could you please pack it up for me? It's a gift."

Raven shot a glance at the queue seemingly growing each second, continuously expanding the place it occupied in the store and then locked her eyes back on the customer. The familiar face of the elderly lady asking her for such favour was kind and hopeful, with visible sense of pride for her choice and by all means, Raven would have helped her with utmost pleasure. If it wasn't for the six, oh, seven, people waiting impatiently. It was October 11th, new academic year has only just begun and people were getting desperate for all sorts of books that might or might not turn out to be helpful. She personally didn't find the assortment of her work place any close to satisfying and would never choose this exact place to trust her degree on but she knew it was a spot the closest to the campus area and the nice setting has successfully made up for the lacks on the shelves. At least the crowd she was now seeing implied so.

So, yeah, on any other day she would gladly paint the box in which the lady planned to place the copy of Levin's "Stepford Wives" with her own hands. But not today.

"A bag is the best I can do for now" she said with the sincerest smile she could produce.

"A bag is barely impressing' the old lady frowned 'I would prefer something more... Oh, you know... Sophisticated..."

Oh, and she wold prefer to leave this exact minute. And she would prefer for her co-worker to show up like he was supposed to do twenty minutes ago. And she would prefer to have a couple of loving, wealthy Irish parents. But most importantly, she would prefer for Galway not to be so expensive or at least for Mexican peso not to be so cheap so she wouldn't have to come here four times a week to make for a living but this world is a cruel place and barely ever asks what we would prefer.

"Then I can give you a shiny box and a golden ribbon" she said sweetly instead, noticing the hustle at the end of the line.

"I would not really want to settle for some massively produced decors. This gift, you see, is for a son of mine whom I haven't seen since-"

"- I understand but we are a bookstore and not a-"

"I swear to God, this line hasn't moved in ages!" came to her ears from a fourth person standing.

"- But it is rude to interrupt an old woman speaking. So, this dear son of mine whom I haven't seen since Saint Patrick-"

"It will be €8.71" she gasped, meeting a compassionate glare of a boy following the Old Lady in the queue.

"Without the packing or with the packing?"

"We haven't agreed on any-"

"Exactly. Therefore, you cannot cash me just yet since-"

"I WILL NOT PACK IT FOR YOU."

The humming of the store stopped immediately and Raven could cross her heart that she felt the eyes of every person within a radius of two hundred feet turning into her.

"Beeeecaaause the lovely florist from the salon just vis a vis will do it much better than any of us would ever" a guy with slight homeless vibe slipped behind the counter gracefully, flashing a half-mouth smile in the space in front of him like he was expecting the cameras to document his reality tv worthy entrance "And" he continued, as he reached for the store's business card and wrote something with a wide gesture "if you mention the name John Murphy from Arcadia, you will get your packing half-price." He blinked while passing her the piece of paper and the customer exclaimed few more long words before she left all content. Raven used the opportunity to swap to the second cash register and turn it on with her co-worker ID.

"You’re late" she hissed through her teeth once Murphy was done with posing (or at least relatively done since she couldn't imagine him totally not-posing).

"Observant" he commented briefly, not taking his sight from the customer's face. "It's €1.01 charge and a free bookmarker for you. Have an eventful night."

"26 minutes late you cockroach" she detailed, noticing 19.56 displayed on the cash register's screen while putting the sum €2.19 for five pensils.

"See?" he lifted his brow not even giving her a slight stare "Just 26 minutes and you already managed to fuck up."

"I wouldn't if you were here so I'd be on my way home just as I was supposed to be."

"So what is the reason behind you staying here and hurting my mother's native grammar instead of getting your angry ass out?"

She tried. She really did. She tried to be friendly with him the first couple of days, she tried to be indifferent towards him for the next few and she even tried to help him today. (Tonight, actually, since it was pitch dark outside already.) But that was the moment where she just tossed her ID on the counter and stormed out of the building, leaving him with another six people waiting in line.

And then there was the next moment when she came back and slicked into the stuff rooms because she couldn't really leave in her uniform.

•••

With an "e" or without an "e", Clarke or Klak, his unexpected roommate was highly inconvenient. Bellamy didn't have any problems with girls around as long as they were around for one night. But every other night for the next ten months? Extremely inconvenient.

It's not like she was completely horrible or something. She actually seemed bearable. A bit too bossy and hella tense for an artist but she took her stuff out of his bedroom once she was asked to do so and they even had something like a conversation so he didn't hate her. At least for now.

But he sincerely enjoyed living alone. His flat was his cave. Casa de Blake has reached the status of an actual legend of Galway, house parties he hosted there were never big but always eventful, he had a reputation he has been building for months and he was determined to keep it.

"I'm sure we'll get along just fine' said Clarke with an "e". 'It's not like you're setting this place on fire every Friday, right?".

Oh, of course not.

He didn't mind a drama every now and again but mostly, he was coming in peace and wished some peace for himself. He didn't really like the idea of fighting with his roommate two up to five evenings a week.

He didn't like the idea of giving up his lifestyle either and that was exactly what he was not going to do.  

And when he eventually got acquainted with the thought of pissing this blond van Goth off on a weekly basic, she called Kane 'dad'.

"I mean, he's my stepdad' she corrected right away. 'But we're very close and he doesn't mind me calling him dad, so."

So. sO. S o.

Pissing off a blond van Goth? Acceptable. Fine. Fun, perhaps.

Pissing off a new daughter of his odd parent, his benefactor, the Prime Minister of Ireland, Marcus Henry Ian Kane, the one who pays for his eight-floor city-centre studio apartment, the one who pays his university tuition, the one who's paid for the vacation of his lifetime, the one who's been his and his sister's only family ever since they've got orphaned seven years ago, the one who has shown him nothing but good will and unconditional support? Unacceptable. Definitely not fine. Could still be fun but not worth it.

The longer he thought about her, the more he needed to escape. So he did.

And headed right to the bookstore.

"Okay, sorry but I need to leave you here. I have a date." He said.

"Okay, sorry but I need to leave you here. I feel an intense need to compulsively buy a seventy eighth book about Roman Empire or Greek mythology or Celtic tales so I can drown myself in it and forget about your existence for a while." He didn't say. Not because he was ashamed of it. He just wasn't quite ready to share such information.

Silly as it sounds, his books were always the most personal element of his personality. Taking about his ex-girlfriend was easier than mentioning his favourite titles. The books he chose were always specific, always reflected his inside wars in a way he partly couldn't, partly didn't want to explain.

Bookstores were his safe spots. He didn't really expect any of his party buddies to show up there. When Octavia was away, he only let his guard down among the shelves full of undiscovered stories. It was geeky, he knew, but there, he didn’t mind in the slightest.

He used to feel himself in his flat too, those rare moments when he was there alone, of course, but that was not going to happen a lot now and that made him tense. He was way too shaken to notice that his steps directed at the closest bookstore were faster, more rapid than usual.

He could almost physically feel his though persona falling behind him the further he was from the flat. He might have been a drama queen, he might have been spoiled or ungrateful or overreacting but the thought of sharing his sacred living space with some intruder, regardless of who she was and how was her name spelled, made him sick. He didn’t need this kind of entertainment in his live. What he needed now was stability. It was his last year. What he needed now was his routine, the first routine he has ever had in his fucked up life, the routine he has worked for.

He was way too shaken to notice the tiny girl with a high ponytail and huge dark eyes standing in his way before he bumped into her, her head buried in his chest.

Overwhelmed by the déjà vu, completely done with the shit the world was pulling today, he didn't apologize. And neither did she. He didn't pass her by and neither did she.

All she did was taking half a step back, lifting her head up to face him, to glare at him with vivid annoyance and ire. And since that was the second time during the last two hours when he bumped into an arrogant chicken-sized girl with unnormal, big eyes, he felt this ire transferring into him.

"Out of my way" she barked, waiting for him to move. He couldn't really comprehend what did he do to deserve such treatment but he didn't care. On any other day he would just rush further, dropping a "sorry" behind him. But he happened to have an awfully rough day and he discovered that he actually was furious too, ready to pick up a fight with this smol angry bean if that was what she asked for.

"I was just about to say that" he stared at her, straight into her face, ignoring how pleasant to look at she was, determined for her to turn back first, no matter how long it took.

Keeping her eyes locked on his, her mouth clenched, brows frowned, she raised her hand and in a quick move pressed a fag to the lapel of his coat and smashed it, making a small but visible hole in the material before she rushed past him into the dark.

Completely poleaxed, he turned around and stared at the silhouette fading away for something that felt like a ridiculous amount of time to stand still in the middle of the street.

He managed to notice her gimping slightly on one leg and catch her voice saying "Finn, you still there?" continuing the phone call she must have started before.

[mossyrossaliceinterviews]

Tempesst-Music for Tempestuous Times

Oct 29, 2020

By Mossy Ross

Credit: Gyorgy Laszlo

Tempesst could be a band that’s one marijuana puff and a mushroom trip away from being a Ken Kesey novel. But they’re too smart for that. Maybe the rockstars of yore could stay up for days on end, free-lovin’ and festival-in,’ tripping balls for days on end. Or if we’re talking the 70s, snorting lines off of supermodels’ asses, and shooting up in the dingy downstairs bathrooms of, what are now, legendary music venues. But escapism is so last century. Now, the music venues have been replaced with condos. Our planet is facing extinction. Political unrest is threatening democracies. Social media is taking over our lives. And for many of us, a future with job security and healthcare is unlikely. But that isn’t stopping Tempesst. They’ve realized there’s nowhere to run, so might as well face the future head on…while still hanging on to what seemed like a much fun-ner past. 

Tempesst’s dreamy new album, appropriately titled “Must Be a Dream,” makes existential crises seem romantic. Their flavor of rock is one of my favorite kinds…pretty. Tempesst shows us that the shitty parts of life don’t always have to lead to screaming anger, but that something beautiful can come out of asking the hard questions. Their retro style gives the modern problems they sing about a feeling of comforting nostalgia. Showing us that we can still slip on a polyester suit, get behind a Hammond organ, and rock out; while being honest about the terrifying future we face. Tempesst reminds us that if all else fails, we always have an analog world to go back to. And that might not be such a bad thing.

Before you read my chat with lead singer, Toma Benjamin, start going down the rabbit hole with Tempesst by watching their video for “Mushroom Cloud.” It not only has addictive visuals, but three of my favorite things: kitschy decor, a man in makeup, and a slammin’ saxophone solo.

Mossy: What’s your band’s history?

TB: The four of us, Blake, Cain, Andy, and I are from the same town in Australia. It’s a collection of towns. But the closest, most famous of the towns, is called Noosa. It’s a little beach town. So Cain, Andy, and I grew up with each other. But Blake’s actually about five years younger, so I met Blake because he lived three houses down the road. But it wasn’t until we were all in London, that we were just part of two groups that happened to come together, and all of these sorts of coincidences. I suppose when you move to a new city, for us coming all the way from Australia, you tend to find other people who have done the same thing. And then you bond, because you’ve got this similar experience of leaving home behind, and coming to this new city.

Mossy: What brought you to London?

TB: We were in New York, and we would’ve loved to stay in America. We were trying to get a visa to come stay in the states. And we got this business visa through my dad’s film distribution company. He distributes all the really bad B-grade films before the internet. People would actually buy the rights for them and distribute them across Australasia, which is pretty hilarious. This was in the 90s and 2000s. So we got a business visa to stay in the U.S., but you had to renew itall the time. So we renewed it once, and we tried to renew it again, but they wouldn’t let us. So we had to pack up all of our shit in thirty days and go back to Australia. And after growing up and spending all this time in this little coastal town in Australia, and then going to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, living in New York and experiencing the city and the energy, it was just too hard to stay home. So we lasted about three months and then we were like, “Well if we can’t go to New York, where else can we go?” So, not so very romantic (Laughs). It was for practical reasons. We could easily get a visa to come to London, and then we fell in love with the place after coming here.

Mossy: I always have to ask people from England or Australia who their influences are. I feel like there’s always such refined musical tastes coming from those two countries. Who were you listening to growing up?

TB: I’m a little bit of a late bloomer, to be honest. We grew up in quite a sheltered environment. Our families are quite religious. Myself and Andy grew up playing music in church. So it wasn’t until I left that world when I was about eighteen, that I started to learn about other artists. And I was really lucky to have a close friend who was actually playing with us in the original Tempesst, when we first started the band. And he’s a music lover and would spend all of his time listening to music from all over the place, and would just introduce us to some really great art. And then when I moved to New York, he also moved with me to New York. And I would say moving to New York introduced me to a lot of DIY bands like Yeasayer and Darwin Deez. When I was there, they were really big, and it was kind of the first time for me listening to that. 

So getting into all the classic albums that I love now, that didn’t happen until well and truly in my twenties. And that was just because of my circumstance. But when I did start listening, it was just all the classics. I was just trying to catch up. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley was one of my initial favorites. I still feel sometimes like I’m catching up. There’s just so much great music to consume, and not enough time to do it. And sometimes when you’re making music all day, the last thing you feel like doing is listening to music. So it’s kind of strange, I find myself listening to Talkback radio. I feel like I’m a 70 year-old man. (Laughs)

Mossy: What religion?

TB: Like Pentacostal, Christian. So yeah, I had some R&B gospel influences. My dad used to listen to George Benson, so I would try and mimic George Benson by playing guitar like George Benson, and singing the melodies with the guitar line. He might have listened to the odd Beatles song. But yeah, it wasn’t like my dad was listening to, like, really cool obscure records and introducing me to his favorite artists. He didn’t give a shit. (Laughs) He was listening to Christian music. 

Mossy: I’m always surprised at how many rock musicians I talk to who grew up religious. I always assumed they would have had the cool dad who listened to obscure records, but a lot of them were sheltered and didn’t get to hear any of that. It’s almost like that upbringing helps you create a really original sound, because you didn’t have those influences around you when you were growing up.

Credit: Gyorgy Laszlo

Your sonic landscape matches your aesthetic. The way you present yourselves. Is that life imitating art, or art imitating life?

TB: I wouldn’t say there was any intention. I think there’s certain music you feel inspired by, and there’s certain fashion that you like, and it tends to be that all of these things come from that same world for us. I would also say that sonically, a lot of the equipment we use is old, vintage equipment. We’ve got vintage synths and our desk is a 1979 Neve console, and it sounds like an old school desk. So I think it just so happens that that’s the kind of music we’re into. We’re influenced by the artists that led us to have a think about what kind of instruments or gear we want, and it just naturally creates this specific sound.

Mossy: Why the extra “s” in Tempesst?

TB: We originally spelled Tempesst with one “s.” But soon after, we found that there was a 20-year old Celtic rock band that had the name already. When we started releasing music, Spotify started listing our music on their band page.

Mossy: Where did you shoot the video for “Mushroom Cloud?”

TB: An old workmens hall here around the corner in Islington. It’s a little hall that you can hire out, and we just thought it was funky and fit the vibe of the song.

Mossy: Tell me about your album cover.

TB: That was done by a guy named Jose Mendez. We basically sent the record out to a bunch of artists, and asked them to send us back what the sound of the album would look like. And Jose sent us back this sketch. The ways he was describing the songs felt like he really understood what we were trying to say. And then when he sent us the sketch, we all felt like it was really cool and trippy, and quite bold. And we wanted the music to feel quite bold and unpredictable. So I guess what we loved about it, was that it felt very bold and sort of random. Some of the ways he personified the characters in the songs were really cool.

Mossy: How would you describe the Age of the Bored (the title of a song off their new album)?

TB: I would describe it as insular. I would describe it as a waste. It was actually Eric that came up with the lyrical concept, and we wrote the lyrics together. I think the frustration came from life caught in the vacuum of this device that sits by our bedside, and in our pocket, in a holder in the car. It’s literally your entire life is linked to this device, and all of the things that distract you, and pull your attention away from the things you should be doing. It’s like a loud voice just demanding your attention. Binging with messages and fucking emails, and everything just taking you off your focus. When I come in to the studio now, I leave my phone in my pocket, hang my jacket up behind the door, and it sits there all day. Because otherwise you find that your whole life is ruled by this device. As opposed to it being something that serves you, it actually takes over. So the idea of that song was just choosing to separate yourself from it at times, and not have this symbiotic relationship with your mobile phone. Everything comes from this idea of not wanting to waste. That life is precious and we only have limited time.

Credit: Gyorgy Laszlo

Mossy: I think it’s great when people who aren’t old, are telling people things that some people don’t realize unless they’re old. It takes a lot of self awareness to admit that this device gives you anxiety, and keeps you from being in the moment, and that you don’t have to have it by you all the time. I think it’s important for people to say that.

TB: One of my favorite lines in the whole record is in that song. It’s, “Offline, the new underground way to unwind.” How strange is it that, like, if you say to someone “I left my phone at home today,” they’re like, “What!? You have to go home!” It’s this bizarre idea that if you wanna unwind, if you wanna feel free, if you don’t wanna feel anxious, you don’t want to be ruled by this device and you leave your phone at home, people just freak out.

Mossy: It’s like a form of rebellion to leave your phone behind.

TB: Yeah, because we have lived in both worlds. So it’s like, you have the contrast. And it’s terrifying to think that at some point, if you have kids or whatever, that they’re gonna live in the world, and they won’t have that contrast. They won’t know what it’s like not to live with a mobile phone. It really will be a very different thing for someone to have that separation from their phone.

Mossy: “Is That All There Is?” also seems to have a message that speaks to a lot of people.

TB: I think again, it’s just another chance to talk about something that feels a little bit silly. That we aren’t always the best stewards of our time. That song’s probably more focused on a time of reflection. What happens is every year, I go back home for Christmas. And it’s a really strange time, because I have this contrast of leaving my busy life in London, and going back to this little beach town, and sitting on the beach. And I’m in this new environment, observing the people in that environment, reflecting on my year. And then the contrast always brings up these questions. For example in that song, “Is this it? Is this all we do? Just work our asses off all year?” And sometimes questioning even the whole creative process, and the creative lifestyle. And even questioning if that’s something that has merit. Does the world need more music? Does the world need another person trying to share their ideas? You’re grappling with this tension as an artist, wondering if the world needs any more fucking artists. (Laughs) There’s so much amazing music, you couldn’t possibly consume it all in one lifetime. And it’s also about just working out and reconciling with just growing up. That we’re not young forever. And we’ll have to, at some point, accept our mortality. And it’s that time when I go back to Australia, and I stop the busy-ness, and I’m sitting on the beach…that I get tormented with all these ideas. (Laughs) 

Listen to “Must Be a Dream” on all streaming platforms or, better yet, buy it on vinyl.

[mileynewsau]

Miley Cyrus Breaks Silence on Rootsy New Music, Fiance Liam Hemsworth & America: 'Unity Is What We Need'

Well above California’s Pacific Coast Highway, just off a canyon road, sits a small house with a wooden porch painted in the colors of the Pride flag. The outside is decorated with frog planters, ­butterfly chairs, a hot-pink pig-shaped grill, ­sunflowers and daisies. This is Rainbow Land, the boho recording studio whose owner, Miley Cyrus, is on this sunny April afternoon sitting cross-legged in a swivel chair before a sound board, dressed way down with unruly long hair, cutoffs and a vintage tee that reads “Malibu” on the front.

Cyrus -- who’s about to play me 10 songs off a new album that promises to (yet again) transform one of the most inimitable, unpredictable careers in recent pop ­history -- is somehow animated and serene at the same time. It’s clear from the way her words tumble forth that she’s ­breaking a months long self-imposed “media blackout” and eager to unpack her latest thinking on everything from her alienation from hip-hop to engaging with Donald Trump’s supporters.

“This is crazy,” she says with her ­signature raspy-voiced charm, “but I haven’t smoked weed in three weeks!” Cyrus -- who’s sitting across from a lighted wall plaque that reads “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” -- elaborates on why she decided to quit “for a second”: “I like to surround myself with people that make me want to get better, more evolved, open. And I was noticing, it’s not the people that are stoned. I want to be super clear and sharp, because I know exactly where I want to be.”

Where is that, exactly? It is, among other things, on her leafy Malibu compound that includes Rainbow Land. Cyrus, 24, shares the property with seven dogs, two pigs, two miniature horses and one Australian: fiance Liam Hemsworth, the actor with whom Cyrus reunited last year after a 2013 breakup. Hemsworth bought the property in 2014, but Cyrus moved in and has left her mark on it. (She also keeps a home with her mom, Tish, in Studio City.) In Malibu, when she’s not making music or doing two hours of Ashtanga yoga daily, Cyrus says she likes nothing better than walking her dogs or grocery shopping, where she’s generally unbothered. “I love talking to people, and I approach them in a normal, ‘Don’t treat me different, ’cause I’m not’ way. That’s what started this evolution for me, getting out of my Dead Petz phase,” she says, referring to her 2015 album, the tour for which featured her in a unicorn outfit with a strap-on phallus. “People stare at me anyway, but people stare at me a lot when I’m dressed as a ­fucking cat.”

On May 11, fans and haters alike will get a dose of New Miley with “Malibu,” the first single off an as-yet-untitled album coming later this year. It’s a breezy love song about Hemsworth -- gimmick-free pop-rock unlike anything she has recorded before, whether as Hannah Montana, the punky Disney princess who scored three Billboard 200 No. 1s in the ’00s; or as herself, on 2013’s daring Bangerz (another No. 1); or the straight-to-SoundCloud experiment Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz. When Cyrus sings, “I never would’ve believed you if three years ago you told me I’d be here writing this song,” she could as easily be referring to her music as to her relationship.

While Bangerz and Petz bore the unmistakable stamps of their respective collaborators, Mike Will Made-It and Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, the new album will be Cyrus’ most DIY to date. She wrote the lyrics and melodies ­herself, and producer-writer Oren Yoel (who co-wrote the Bangerz track “Adore You,” which hit No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100) plays all the ­instruments. Cyrus wrote one song for Hillary Clinton and another for women in the workplace, but overall, the album’s less explicitly political than it is personal. That extends to the music, which adds an unprecedented dose of twang to a mix that includes quiet acoustic turns and epic pop. “This is Miley leaning into her roots more than I’ve ever heard,” says her father, country singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus, who tells a story of Waylon Jennings teaching a young Miley guitar chords at the kitchen table. “For her, this is honest.” It’s also a showcase for her voice, one of the most expressive in music. “My main concern isn’t radio,” says Cyrus, whose “Wrecking Ball” spent three weeks at No. 1 in 2013. “I truly don’t even listen to it.”

Cyrus was first inspired to reach beyond her circle of “outspoken liberals” and ­cultivate ­country fans and red staters in 2016, when she began as a coach on NBC’s stalwart talent competition The Voice. (She will rejoin for season 13 this fall.) “I like talking to people that don’t agree with me, but I don’t think I can do that in an aggressive way,” says Cyrus. “I don’t think those people are going to listen to me when I’m sitting there in nipple pasties, you know?”

After Trump was elected ­president, Cyrus -- who first ­supported Bernie Sanders and, when she won the Democratic ­nomination, Clinton -- launched #HopefulHippies, an initiative of her Happy Hippie youth-activism nonprofit that encourages people to “turn emotion into action.” “I have to ask myself, ‘How am I going to create real change?’” she says, “and not just ­fucking preach to the choir anymore.” With the new album, Cyrus hopes to reach the other side of the aisle. “This record is a reflection of the fact that yes, I don’t give a fuck, but right now is not a time to not give a fuck about people,” she says. “I’m ­giving the world a hug and saying, ‘Hey, look. We’re good -- I love you.’ And I hope you can say you love me back.”

Where exactly did you write ­“Malibu”?

On the way to The Voice. I drive myself everywhere, but that day I decided to Uber, and I was trying not to sing out loud because someone else was in the car.

People might call it sentimental.

They’re going to talk about me if I come out of a restaurant with Liam. So why not put the power back in my relationship and say, “This is how I feel”?

After you guys broke up, you said something like, “I’m so immersed in work, I can’t even think about it.”

Yeah, but also ’cause I needed to change so much. And changing with someone else not changing like that is too hard. Suddenly you’re like, “I don’t recognize you anymore.” We had to refall for each other.

The new album is pretty singer-­songwriter-y, no?

Yeah. But not granola. I don’t listen to Ed Sheeran and John Mayer and stuff.

Did folk singer Melanie Safka [with whom Cyrus performed in 2015] ­influence you?

She did, and I grew up with her. But I also love that new Kendrick [Lamar] song [“Humble”]: “Show me somethin’ natural like ass with some stretch marks.” I love that because it’s not “Come sit on my dick, suck on my cock.” I can’t listen to that anymore. That’s what pushed me out of the hip-hop scene a little. It was too much “Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my cock” -- I am so not that.

I was torn on whether I was going to work with certain producers that I really like. But I feel if we’re not on the same page ­politically ... My record is political, but the sound bite doesn’t stop there. Because you can write something beautiful and you know E! News will ruin our lives and say, “This is a political record.” Because then I’m the Dixie Chicks and I’m getting my album smashed in the streets, and that’s not what I want. I want to talk to people in a compassionate, understanding way -- which people aren’t doing.

What appealed to you about The Voice?

I’m down for hanging with Blake [Shelton]. I actually want to take ­advantage of the fact that he’s there, [because] his fans don’t really take me seriously as a ­country artist. One, I haven’t given them that music. But I’ve got a tattoo of Johnny Cash’s autograph that he gave me when I was a ­little girl that says, “I’m in your corner.” Dolly Parton is my ­fucking ­godmother. The fact that ­country music fans are scared of me, that hurts me. All the ­nipple pastie shit, that’s what I did because I felt it was part of my political movement, and that got me to where I am now. I’m evolving, and I surround myself with smart people that are evolved.

But we’ve seen the way that Madonna and Lady Gaga get asked, “Is this just another costume? Another phase?”

I think [Madonna and Gaga] are ­enlightened. I ­fucking hate it when people can’t adjust. I used to [resist changing]. But I haven’t smoked weed in three weeks, which is the longest I’ve ever [gone without it]. I’m not doing drugs, I’m not drinking, I’m completely clean right now! That was just something that I wanted to do.

Is it hard to not smoke?

It’s easy, dude. When I want something, it’s fucking easy for me. But if anyone told me not to smoke, I would have not done it. It’s because it was on my time. I know exactly where I am right now. I know what I want this record to be. And not in the sense of manipulation -- wanting something from my fans or the audience, like some slimy thing -- “How do I get attention?” I never thought about that. Dude, I was shocked that people gave a fuck about the [MTV Video Music Awards in 2013, when she ­performed with Robin Thicke] -- the ­twerking, the teddy bear. It’s a totally ­different time, and I don’t think that would freak people out anymore.

Our perceptions of a lot of things are changing at lightning speed. Still, there’s an audience that’s maybe a little scared of you, those who might have a tendency to vilify the “other.”

I was talking about this with my sister [Noah], who’s 17, and she’s doing music right now. She basically grew up in L.A. She���s never known anything different. She doesn’t even know she’s open-minded, it’s the only kind of mind she has ever known. It’s mind-boggling to me that there was even a controversy around me having black dancers. That became a thing, where people said I was taking advantage of black culture, and with Mike [WiLL Made-It] -- what the fuck? That wasn’t true. Those were the dancers I liked!

When I met Pharrell [Williams], before “Blurred Lines,” before “Happy,” people wouldn’t take meetings with me because they said, “He hasn’t had a hit in 10 years.” They wanted to put me with the Dr. Lukes of the world, the Max Martins, and put me through the fucking assembly line, and I said, “No. This is someone who actually cares about me. This is someone I feel safe with.” I got completely shut out, and I had to just trust myself. What feels right to me feels right to my fans, because they know some dude in a suit didn’t tell me to do it. And by the way, I brought “Wrecking Ball” to Luke. No one put me in the room with Luke. I had done “Party in the U.S.A.” with him, and that’s just someone I thought could handle that sound. Did you ever get to come to a Bangerz show?

Yeah, I did.

I was crazy about making the tongue slide work. I was so ­embarrassed to be on the red carpet and so many of those fucking disgusting ­photographers would tell me to blow a kiss, and that’s not me! I don’t want to blow you a kiss. I didn’t know what to do with my face, so I stuck my tongue out, and it became a rebellious, punk-rock thing.

The Dead Petz track “BB Talk,” which calls out a man for his “baby ­talking,” seems to reject a similar kind of ­gender standard.

I wish it would’ve gotten some ­attention. No one saw the video! It was a real rant. Dating a musician [like me] is probably the worst thing ever, because you always end up ­having your shit in songs. It’s just ­inevitable. But I’m just that way. I’m a little bit boyish. But I can also be super femme and dress as a bunny rabbit. Who I’m with has nothing to do with sex -- I’m super open, pansexual, that’s just me.

Do you want your dudes to be dudes?

Not even. That really grosses me out. I always get in trouble for ­generalizing straight men, ’cause straight men can be my worst nightmare ­sometimes. And I’m with a straight dude. But he’s always like, “Well, don’t call me that!” I ask him sometimes, “Do you like being a boy?” And he’s like, “I don’t really think about it.” And that’s crazy to me, because I think about being a girl all the time. I’m always like, “It’s weird that I’m a girl, because I just don’t feel like a girl, and I don’t feel like a boy. I just feel like nothing.” So when someone’s too ­masculine, that really grosses me out.

But then, girls really make me sad a lot of the time too, especially right now. I think fashion has taken us a little bit downhill. I can only speak for the years that I’ve been alive, but I don’t know if it has ever been so important to “fit in.” It’s not about standing out right now. Which is so weird, because it seems like for the really unique, smart kids in this generation, it’s all about standing out. I love seeing these kids on Instagram that dress fucking dope. This whole world right now is so divided, in the arts, fashion -- everything.

The country is certainly very divided.

I like the way I think right now. But don’t Trump supporters like the way they think? So I’ve also got to be open with the way I approach people with my opinions. That’s the only way to make real change. And it’s not because I want to sell records! I know now the ways that don’t work. Because I went really hard during the ­election. But at the end of the day, we lost. We won, but because the system is fucked up, we lost. I thought, “OK. I learned my lesson on this one.”

Did you have to go into The Voice right after Election Day?

That next day, dude. I wanted to go to rehearsals. Liam was like, “Just don’t go. You’re not there. And you don’t know how everyone feels on that set.” Everyone’s from all different parts of the country, so he was like, “Don’t go and get into it with ­people right now.” Because clearly ­unity is what we need.

You posted a tearful Instagram video the day after the election, and I tweeted, “Love you, Miley.” And so many alt-right dudes responded, “Are you just trying to fuck her?”

That’s them sexualizing me, because they think that you couldn’t take me seriously. The first thing I got on my Instagram when I posted that was people saying, “You said you were going to move. When are you going to move?” It’s not time for me to leave now, dude. I’ve got to be here. I’ve got to glue this place back together, because I’m from Tennessee -- that state [went to] Donald Trump. I’m such a dreamer, and I know a lot of things that I’ve wanted to do people said weren’t possible. When I started Happy Hippie -- this is before Caitlyn Jenner transitioned, before this became something that is a part of the culture...

Leelah Alcorn -- a 17-year-old ­transgender girl who committed ­suicide in December 2014 -- brought a new awareness to transgender issues.

Yes. I was on a Christmas trip, and I was like, “How am I sitting here about to open presents and someone has taken their own life?” I started Happy Hippie because I never thought we would see this day where you have the Laverne Coxes of the world get not only trans roles, but female roles. And I realized the voice I had. That’s why I brought Jesse [Helt, a homeless man, to the 2014 VMAs], because it felt wrong for me to go and get an award, celebrating me getting naked and riding a fucking wrecking ball around for a day. I mean, what would I have said? “Thanks, uh... thanks to [“Wrecking Ball” video ­director] Terry Richardson”? That would have been so weird.

Do you think you’ve managed to bring your politics into The Voice?

By sitting there after the election in head-to-toe pink, while on the inside being a gender-neutral, ­sexually fluid person, hopefully that was saying ­something. I needed some sparkle in my life, to make me able to deal. Radiating love is ­something that is important to me -- ­hopefully, that is being political.

This article originally appeared in the May 13 issue of Billboard.