Even though it's barely been a month since she released Endless Summer, Miley Cyrus may (keyword here) have secretly dropped another album under the pseudonym Clara Pierce.
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Earlier this week, fans went into a frenzy when several TikTokers claimed that Pierce—a Spotify-verified artist who had no other music posted and just over 200 monthly subscribers—was actually the former Disney star. The unknown singer released a 12-track album titled Down With Me with vocals that sounded strikingly similar and transported us all into like a reverse Hannah Montana fever dream.
"She's literally Hannah Montana-ing???" one user commented on one of the many viral videos dissecting the album.
While this all may have started as a fun pop culture conspiracy, the fact that Cyrus hasn't denied the rumors AND that the album was removed from Spotify turns this case into a full-blown music mystery. Until we can get some real answers, let's dive into the evidence we do have.
The Release Date
Other than the overwhelmingly hard-to-ignore fact that Clara Pierce sounds like a carbon copy of Miley Cyrus, the release date of Down With Me is significant. One TikToker pointed out that it was dropped on the exact same day as Endless Summer: March 10, 2023.
Coincidence? Maybe. But the fact that Cyrus is clearly listed under Pierce's "Similar Artists" section on Spotify just supports the theory that they are one and the same.
The Name
Clara Pierce sounds innocuous enough. But fans were quick to point out that Clara Pierce sounds a heck of a lot like Sasha Fierce, Beyoncè's alter ego. Sure, it may be a stretch for some. But not for a girl who's released songs under several names already (never forget Ashley O).
Another curious tidbit regarding this Clara Pierce gal is the fact that she doesn't seem to exist. Prior to the internet finding out about the album, she had no digital footprint, which is pretty odd for a musical artist who has released an entire album.
There is a content creator whose name is Clara Peirce, but she's already made it very clear via her Instagram and website that she's not moonlighting as the musician. "Sorry, I'm Not Miley," her homepage reads. "It does appear that fate has brought us together. I don't have any new singles dropping, but I'm your gal for recipes, recommendations, and everything in between."
The Unreleased Album
TikTok sleuths uncovered that many of the songs in Clara Pierce's album are identical to those almost featured on Cyrus' scrapped album, She Is Miley Cyrus. What was supposed to be her seventh studio album was never released because the music was all erased. However, it wasn't clear from the handwritten note posted to her Twitter account whether the album was erased physically or metaphorically.
"I began this album over 2 years ago," she wrote back in 2019. "Thought I had it all figured out. Not just the record with its songs and sounds but my whole f**king life. But no one checks an ego like life itself. Just when I thought the body of work was finished it was ALL erased. Including most of the music's relevance. Because EVERYTHING had changed."
"Nature did what I now see as a favor and destroyed what I couldn't let go of for myself," she wrote, presumably about the California wildfires. "I lost my house in a fire but found myself in its ashes."
Fast forward to today, and we now have Down With Me, with many of the same tracks from She Is Miley Cyrus, including the song Sagittarius. This similarity has led many fans to believe that the two albums are the same and that Miley or someone else released the demo songs under a different name.
The Songwriter
Prior to the music being taken down, fans noticed that the songwriter listed on the majority of the album's songs was Willian Cordeiro—another name with a virtually nonexistent internet history. While this could be the work of a Miley or a mega-fan, one TikToker suggested that the whole thing sounded like the work of AI.
This is all speculation, of course. But with more and more AI-generated music coming out, the theory isn't completely out of left field.
The Silence
Of course, this whole thing could be immediately put to bed if Miley Cyrus/Clara Pierce were to deny the rumors. But as of right now, she's seemingly keeping mum about the whole thing—adding to the mysteriousness and intrigue that surrounds Down With Me.
In fact, the only update fans have received from the singer is a string of photos she posted on Instagram with the caption, "I'm sorry that you're jaded." To which fans replied with comments like "Clara please explain it all."
Yes, Clara. Please explain it all.
READ MORE: Miley Cyrus Looks Like a Gothic Princess on the Runway on Album Release Eve
