Miley Cyrus and Pharrell Williams' new song is actually pretty old

Miley Cyrus’ next era is all about joy, freedom, and reclaiming her own story. The two-time Grammy Award winner’s newest song—which is actually a pretty old song—is exactly in line with this general ethos: if it feels right, why not celebrate it?

That’s exactly what Cyrus and Pharrell Williams, who last collaborated a decade ago on 2014's “Come Get It Bae,” are doing with their latest release, “Doctor (Work It Out).” “I could be your doctor / And I could be your nurse,” Cyrus sings over a funky, upbeat track that immediately recalls the duo’s earlier work. That’s not a coincidence. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 (via Pitchfork), the artists revealed that the single actually dates back to 2012, when they were working together on Cyrus’ fourth album, Bangerz. (Williams is credited as a writer and producer on the record.) The unreleased demo was originally leaked online in 2017 (per Rolling Stone), but the pair made some updates for the song’s official release.

“We just knew it was early,” Williams said. “You just never know. And there’s a moment where you feel like you feel the stickiness in something, but you may feel that the environment is not ready for it.”

The culture—and Cyrus herself—are certainly ready for it now, at least if the outpouring of love following her triumphant “Flowers” performance at the Grammys is anything to go by. In fact, it was this moment and the lead-up to it that inspired the pair to release the song in the first place. “Around the Grammys, Pharrell and I were talking about putting the song out, and it just felt like it was so serendipitous, and there were so many alignments and so many moments that made me know that now was the perfect time,” Cyrus said. “Sometimes things in our past make more sense in our present than they ever did then. And so this song, I think the nature, the celebration, the feeling, especially with the video, the joy, the dancing, the letting go, it’s what this song really always needed.”

The video, directed by Jacob Bixenman, looks like it could have been filmed immediately after Cyrus walked out of the Crypto.com arena with her two gold statues. If you’ve been hankering for the return of goofy girl dancing at the club (complimentary), this one’s really for you.