“Slide Away” is Miley’s response to her public split from now-ex-husband Liam Hemsworth just eight days before the song’s surprise-released on August 16, 2019. The lyrics are somber in nature, expressing Cyrus’s sadness but also acceptance about letting the relationship go.

This pop track with hip-hop influences is Miley Cyrus' first release since her Black Mirror insert song “On A Roll,” which came out only two months before “Slide Away.”