Miley Cyrus’ ‘Lighter’ Video Is a Tender Acid Trip

I'm still very unclear whether it's incredible or horrifying what's happening with Miley Cyrus at the moment: She's out on the road on the Milky Milky Milk Tour with her best pals The Flaming Lips, getting her bits out and wearing a strap-on dildo (don't worry — she has a reason for the very NSFW get-up), and performing songs from her entirely free album, Miley Cyrus And Her Dead Petz. Maybe it's a bit of both.

In any case, Miley's gone and released a very DIY-looking video for one of the better songs to come from her LP, her self-penned, Mike WiLL Made-It produced "Lighter." It's a subdued and romantic slow jam, reminiscent of an atmospheric '80s Cyndi Lauper or Phil Collins ballad.

The accompanying visual is essentially Miley And The Amazing Technicolor Projections all up on her face, as very LSD-induced rainbow effects bounce across her naked flash in an extended series of close-ups as she sings along and smokes. (She also does some dancing in a robe in a few moments.) It looks, mostly, like a tour backdrop — a far cry from the glossy, high production value of her Bangerz-era visuals.

She supplied the full story behind the clip on Facebook over the weekend:

"Fuck yeah! After our 1st show in Chicago (which was totally turnt) we loved seeing y'all singing along to all the Dead Petz jamsssss but seemed like this one was a fan favorite!!!!! For all of you who can't be with us in Detroit tonight and of course for all of you who will here is the official Lighter music video directed by me and Wayne Coyne featuring bad ass Jen Starks bad ass animated kaleidoscopic projections!!!!!"

Miley's presence in mainstream pop is missed — but to be fair, she isn't actually that far gone: This song really wouldn't sound out of place sandwiched between "Adore You" and "My Darlin'" on Bangerz. It's nice to see her sit there and simply croon the sweet tune — it's a nice reminder that underneath the emoji Illuminati acid trip nipple-baring candy-coated bonanza of her career as of late, there's still good music in the mix.

"I think it represents what's going on in my mind," she repeatedly croons as "Lighter" draws to a close. The video certainly looks like it does, too.

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