"Grown-up" Cyrus on the move with movie and album

By Cortney Harding

NEW YORK (Billboard) - For a teen idol who suddenly has been turned into glossy magazine fodder, Miley Cyrus is remarkably sanguine when asked about the infamous bare-shoulder, bedsheet-entwined photo that appeared recently in Vanity Fair.

"I was embarrassed," she says in her rapid, self-assured clip, "but also it's like, every career thing that I do can't be perfect, and sometimes my decisions are wrong. I think that just makes me even more relatable. I don't think people will look at me any differently, because they're like, 'You know what, I'm going to do stupid stuff too, and I'm going to make mistakes, and that's fine.' It still hurts when I think about it -- but you know what, it doesn't mean that you can't move on."

Cyrus certainly has done just that. She's got a new album, "Breakout," due July 22, and is filming a "Hannah Montana" movie in Tennessee, followed quickly by a return to the Disney studios to shoot another season of the show that made her a household name. After the season wraps, she'll hit the road for another tour, hoping to match, if not best, the remarkable success of her last outing.

First cast as Hannah Montana at age 12, she quickly developed a tween following playing a character who is an ordinary schoolgirl by day and a rock star by night. The franchise quickly bloomed from a TV series to a full-blown marketing juggernaut, complete with five affiliated albums moving 7.29 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and a 70-date, sold-out tour that led mothers to write fictional essays about dead fathers in order to win tickets.

With this new album, though, Cyrus is introducing her fans to a new side of her personality.

The hardworking professional spoke with Billboard about her new album, new movie and the importance of being a good role model.

Q: How is the new album different from your previous efforts?

Miley Cyrus: It's grown-up. I wrote all the songs except two. My last one, "Meet Miley Cyrus," was more just meeting me, finding out who I am, and here it's more getting in depth of what's been going on in my life in the past year.

Q: Not many people are aware that you're a songwriter. Can you talk a little bit about your process?

Cyrus: Songwriting is what I really want to do with my life forever. No matter how long what I'm doing here lasts, I want to be a songwriter for the rest of my life. I love it and it's my escape. I just hope this record showcases that -- more than anything -- I'm a writer.

I wrote my first song when I was probably 7. It was called "Pink." That shows what kind of song it was -- it's about the color pink. But you know what, darn it, I wrote it and I've been writing since I was my little sister's age.

At this point, though, when I'm writing I like to not listen to music at all because I don't want to ever be like, "Oh, this is cool," and start to sound like anyone else. I try to just kind of focus on my music and just continue to write, just kind of block everything out. I don't watch TV at night; I actually try to make sure my mind is focused.

Q: There were many kids who were disappointed that they couldn't see you on your last tour. Are you planning to tour with this new record, and what are you going to do to make sure all your fans can see you?

Cyrus: Yeah, we're definitely going to go on tour. We're not sure when we're going to do that -- probably early next year, later this year, we're not sure -- but I want to make it a lot different. My last tour was successful, but I want to do something that no one's tried before.

In terms of the kids who couldn't get in, I don't know if I could do more -- we did 76 shows last year, and I don't know that I could do more than that. Maybe I could do that and take a little break and go back into it? Also, the 3-D movie ("Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour") was awesome for the people that didn't get to come see the show.