Album Review: Cyrus – Cyrus
2 min read
The latest victor from the Australian succession of the popular X Factor series and small town boy Cyrus Villanueva is about to make his mark on the industry. Following his win, he recently released his self-titled debut featuring studio recordings of previous performances as well as his winning single, Stone.
Beginning Cyrus’ musical journey is original tune Stone, a slow building pop song that displays the distinct vocal edge that makes this fresh singer so unique. Equipped with a bouncing chorus and its infectious lyrics Stone is an absolute jam that’ll win you over before you delve into the covers.
Cyrus tackles a lot of tracks originally performed by heavy hitters in the pop world. From his stripped back version of Robyn’s Dancing On My Own, to the burning passion resounding behind his performance of Adele’s hit Rumour Has It, Cyrus takes it all in his stride. While any follower of the seventh winner will know he can absolutely kill a pop ballad the surprises come when he branches away from his comfort zone and performs out of his typical genre. While they’re still rooted in the pop world it’s refreshing to see some R&B influences amongst the track list. First serenading The Weeknd’s Earned It, and then taking on Ed Sheeran’s Don’t. While musically these tracks boast the same musical structure they’re vocally worlds apart, showing his versatility and having a hand at a rap inspired style rather than his usual pop croon.
Cyrus sees Cyrus take his brand of smooth pop covering a plethora of popular tracks and breathing a fresh life into them. There are 11 songs on his debut and while the 10 cover performances boast a very similar aesthetic to the original tune they’re all infused with that Cyrus twist which makes the stand well on their own. Cyrus is coming out of the gate strong with his album, Cyrus.
