Back in November, Vevo released Noah Cyrus’ first music video, Make Me (Cry) featuring Labrinth.
I had remembered that Miley Cyrus had a younger sister from watching Disney Channel. She and the youngest Jonas Brother, Frankie Jonas, voiced a movie together back in 2008 called Ponyo, and there would be promotions on Disney from time to time. Back then, she was just a cute 8 year old girl, “Miley’s little sister”. She had stayed out of the spotlight since then, which I was happy to see because of the pressure that Hollywood can put on a young girl.
Noah picked a good time to start a career. She’s 17, so she’s not a kid anymore. She’s old enough to release a wider range of music then she would have been able to at a younger age. Now that Miley has cut off most of her hair and dyed it blonde, Noah’s brown hair makes her resemble the Disney Channel Miley. I immediately felt younger when I watch her perform, part of the reason why I was so excited about the video.
Noah has a strong resemblance to Miley while still looking like herself. In the video, she’s wearing very little makeup, a messy bun, and an oversized white t-shirt, yet has a striking natural beauty to her. Her eyes are a unique shade of light blue, and she has very fresh and flawless skin.
My first thought was that the video was a little grown for her. It starts with her waking up in bed next to a shirtless boy. The boy remains asleep through the duration of the video, while she sings to him and moves around the room. 17 seems a bit young to be waking up next to your boyfriend in what looks like an apartment in the city. It’s more suggestive then provocative, so I would put it on the line.
That being said, what I think the video articulates well are thoughts that you have when you’re with someone that you don’t say. She’s able to voice these thoughts because he is asleep and won’t hear her. There’s times when she watches him sleep lovingly and holds his body, times when she stares out the window thinking, and times when she throws the covers off of the bed in frustration. Both the lyrics and the video show the mix of emotions that you can feel at one time towards someone. She transitions through each of these emotions during the video, like how we sometimes do in our minds when we’re deep in thought. I have to note that Noah did really well acting and telling the story in this video.
The song is simple, yet relatable. It talks about being in love with someone that breaks you down emotionally. They lie to you and make you cry, but you still don’t want them to leave you, and you still feel like you need them. It’s one of those songs you listen to after a fight. A pretty heavy topic for 17, but Noah emotionally connects to it well, and the range works well with her voice.
The moment I fell in love with her was when I saw the acoustic version that Vevo released after the music video. This version shows Noah sitting in a room with candles next to Labrinth who harmonizes with her and plays the song on the piano. Seeing her sit shyly with her hands in between her legs looking down made me feel like I was watching someone who wasn’t used to performing, which was honestly really cute to see. Like the music video, her emotional connection was good. She has a lot of feeling singing this song, but there are moments when she budges a shy smile that make me melt.
Hearing it as a ballad with just a piano made me appreciate the song so much more. During the chorus, when they sing “Cause all you ever do is make me…” and Labrinth fills the silence with a chord, I think that the meaning of the song becomes that much stronger because they never actually say the word cry. They leave the phrase floating in the air, which I think is a lot more effective than the raindrop sound effect they use in the studio version.
I was skeptical when I watched the music video, because I couldn’t tell if Noah could really sing or if the song was just really well produced. Once I watched the acoustic version, I could tell Noah has a nice voice. It has a youthful and pretty tone to it. The way that she hits some notes makes her sound a lot like her sister, but her voice is still unique, much like her appearance.
Other fans are already falling in love with the young star. Her music video has already reached 41 million views, while the acoustic version already has 6.5 million. I believe that Noah has talent, and a long career ahead of her. I look forward to hearing new music from her album NC17.
Shauna Nichelle 