Miley Cyrus and Ellie Goulding Set Pop Ablaze With Raw, Real New Anthems

Mia Reynolds, 11/15/2025Miley Cyrus and Ellie Goulding redefine pop with their latest singles, capturing the essence of resilience and vulnerability. Cyrus's "Dream as One" offers a cinematic anthem of hope, while Goulding's "Destiny" explores post-divorce acceptance, showcasing a trend towards raw, authentic storytelling in music.

Take Miley Cyrus, for example. Never content with treading water, she’s once again stepping into uncharted territory—only this time, it’s a full-blown cinematic adventure. Paired with the sprawling imagination of James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” her latest track “Dream as One” doesn’t just echo the lushness of Pandora’s alien jungles. It lays out a bed of harmonies thick enough to get lost in. Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen—all reliable for conjuring a kind of pop magic—add their fingerprints to the project. The result? Picture this: orchestral sweeps, whispered choruses, a hint of triumph at the edge of the world.

But there’s no mistaking the pulse of resilience at the song’s core. If Cameron’s films wrestle with crumbling worlds, so does “Dream as One”—yet somehow, it comes through like a glimmer of stubborn hope in a blue-lit wilderness. Cyrus’s vocals, a little rougher than in days past and all the better for it, slide through the melody like silver veins threading stone. It’s less a call to arms than an invitation—one that wonders aloud whether dreaming together might be the bravest thing left to do.

Then again, the transformation isn’t just cosmic. Across the ocean, Ellie Goulding offers a very human kind of alchemy. Her new single “Destiny” sidesteps artifice, digging straight into the complicated, splintered truth of a post-divorce life. The song steps out quietly—almost shy at first—with introspective guitar lines that trade in the glossier trappings of her earlier work for something somehow more direct, and a little raw around the edges.

Goulding spoke candidly not long ago, mulling over the process that birthed the track: “Recording this was like a catharsis... it made me feel so much better—like the prize was me all along.” There’s vulnerability here that feels less like confession, more like a weary sort of surrender. The song winds its way through regret and guilt but never lingers overlong in self-pity. “Destiny” seems to lean toward acceptance, to the everyday victories—the kind that unfold quietly, sometimes in fits and starts, across long autumn afternoons.

Sigismondi’s video, set in a stately old manor, twists the knife just enough. Moments pass where the camera catches only slivers of a new relationship: a hand, the glint of silverware, laughter stifled behind pressed lips. It’s as if the clip wants to remind viewers that returning to oneself—claiming joy again—isn’t so much a thunderclap as a dawning realization. Sorrow, pleasure, and the tinge of anticipation; all stitched together in a room that still smells a little like history.

Of course, not every pop comeback wields such bruised honesty. The current moment, though, seems obsessed with trading gloss for candor. Goulding herself admires artists like Lily Allen for carving out spaces where, as she notes, “total transparency” is respected as currency—and it’s not just a fleeting TikTok trend anymore. The audience, perhaps tired of puzzles and mirrors, appears to crave something that cuts a little closer to the bone.

And really, who could blame them? After years dominated by the spectacle of marketing and digital masks, there’s a real appetite for stories that groan with lived experience. Listening to “Dream as One” and “Destiny” back-to-back, the contrast couldn’t be starker or more needed. Cyrus delivers her hopeful swell against a backdrop of fire and myth, while Goulding quietly rebuilds from the ashes, piece by careful piece.

Pop music in 2025 is lined with these little contradictions—wide-screen utopias standing shoulder to shoulder with raw, candle-lit vulnerability. There’s room for both at the table. Or maybe that’s exactly the point: What survives, survives together—sometimes in grand, sweeping choruses under alien leaves, sometimes tracing new beginnings in the shadow of a closed door. The best songs this season know how to stand with their scars showing, humming quietly or roaring, but always insisting there’s still something beautiful left to salvage.

Which, strangely enough, might be the true trademark of this era’s music. Not that it chases perfection, but that it’s finally brave enough to let a little mess into the melody.

Some seasons pass quietly, but autumn 2024 isn't one of them—at least not in the world of pop music. There's an odd camaraderie to be found lately, a sense that artists and listeners alike are adjusting to something larger than simple heartache or hope. Change isn’t tiptoeing in on cat feet; it’s shaking the rafters, and pop’s brightest stars seem almost tuned to that same tectonic shift.Take Miley Cyrus, for example. Never content with treading water, she’s once again stepping into uncharted territory—only this time, it’s a full-blown cinematic adventure. Paired with the sprawling imagination of James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” her latest track “Dream as One” doesn’t just echo the lushness of Pandora’s alien jungles. It lays out a bed of harmonies thick enough to get lost in. Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen—all reliable for conjuring a kind of pop magic—add their fingerprints to the project. The result? Picture this: orchestral sweeps, whispered choruses, a hint of triumph at the edge of the world.But there’s no mistaking the pulse of resilience at the song’s core. If Cameron’s films wrestle with crumbling worlds, so does “Dream as One”—yet somehow, it comes through like a glimmer of stubborn hope in a blue-lit wilderness. Cyrus’s vocals, a little rougher than in days past and all the better for it, slide through the melody like silver veins threading stone. It’s less a call to arms than an invitation—one that wonders aloud whether dreaming together might be the bravest thing left to do.Then again, the transformation isn’t just cosmic. Across the ocean, Ellie Goulding offers a very human kind of alchemy. Her new single “Destiny” sidesteps artifice, digging straight into the complicated, splintered truth of a post-divorce life. The song steps out quietly—almost shy at first—with introspective guitar lines that trade in the glossier trappings of her earlier work for something somehow more direct, and a little raw around the edges.Goulding spoke candidly not long ago, mulling over the process that birthed the track: “Recording this was like a catharsis... it made me feel so much better—like the prize was me all along.” There’s vulnerability here that feels less like confession, more like a weary sort of surrender. The song winds its way through regret and guilt but never lingers overlong in self-pity. “Destiny” seems to lean toward acceptance, to the everyday victories—the kind that unfold quietly, sometimes in fits and starts, across long autumn afternoons.Sigismondi’s video, set in a stately old manor, twists the knife just enough. Moments pass where the camera catches only slivers of a new relationship: a hand, the glint of silverware, laughter stifled behind pressed lips. It’s as if the clip wants to remind viewers that returning to oneself—claiming joy again—isn’t so much a thunderclap as a dawning realization. Sorrow, pleasure, and the tinge of anticipation; all stitched together in a room that still smells a little like history.Of course, not every pop comeback wields such bruised honesty. The current moment, though, seems obsessed with trading gloss for candor. Goulding herself admires artists like Lily Allen for carving out spaces where, as she notes, “total transparency” is respected as currency—and it’s not just a fleeting TikTok trend anymore. The audience, perhaps tired of puzzles and mirrors, appears to crave something that cuts a little closer to the bone.And really, who could blame them? After years dominated by the spectacle of marketing and digital masks, there’s a real appetite for stories that groan with lived experience. Listening to “Dream as One” and “Destiny” back-to-back, the contrast couldn’t be starker or more needed. Cyrus delivers her hopeful swell against a backdrop of fire and myth, while Goulding quietly rebuilds from the ashes, piece by careful piece.Pop music in 2025 is lined with these little contradictions—wide-screen utopias standing shoulder to shoulder with raw, candle-lit vulnerability. There’s room for both at the table. Or maybe that’s exactly the point: What survives, survives together—sometimes in grand, sweeping choruses under alien leaves, sometimes tracing new beginnings in the shadow of a closed door. The best songs this season know how to stand with their scars showing, humming quietly or roaring, but always insisting there’s still something beautiful left to salvage.Which, strangely enough, might be the true trademark of this era’s music. Not that it chases perfection, but that it’s finally brave enough to let a little mess into the melody.