I grew up with Troye Sivan. And it feels so good to see him grown.
By Yiming Fu
Courtesy Capitol
When I was 12, I would wrap myself in a light blue checker-striped comforter, fashion a yellow bath towel around my waist and a pink one on my head — my signature bubblegum updo. I’d strike a pose as my younger sister hit record on our iPad.
“Hi everyone! This is Yiming Fu fashion guru. Welcome back to my channel!” I would recite my lines with a wind chime voice, winking charismatically at the camera and preparing for a career of internet stardom I knew I was destined for, but would never quite leave the confines of my childhood bedroom.
Troye Sivan was one of the first Youtubers I followed. I remember watching his coming out video not even knowing what being “gay” really was yet. And I loved watching his challenge videos with Tyler Oakley where they would play beer pong or paint each other’s faces. When Troye started his music career in 2014, I laughed, thinking it was one of those silly little ventures that would never go any further. Brunette Australian internet twink wants to sing…blah blah blah. But to my surprise, I carry all of his releases as precious gems.
“Something to Give Each Other” is no exception. Released on October 13, Troye’s latest album is him at his most self assured, with musical production, lyrics and videos that cement his status as a pop culture mainstay and an icon for gays growing up in the internet era.
I loved the rollout of this album. “Rush,” the album’s lead single and opener, was pure gay hoe-etry. The piano house beat was perfectly tailored for poppers-drenched disco-draped dancefloors. The imagery and marketing was openly gay and debaucherous in a way that the mainstream music industry hasn’t really seen before. The video opens with a slap on Troye’s visibly-red ass cheek (sound included!) before zooming out and taking the ever-moving camera, and us, along into a frenzied orgy of sex, drug use, ass cheeks and naked torsos galore. The marketing was similarly confident in its sexuality, with Troye selling tongue-in-cheek gloryhole vinyls and poppers shirts. This was the lead single of all lead singles, and set the tone for an out, proud, and offensively lascivious 3rd album.
Despite an impressive build-up, I have to confess, the rest of the music on the album didn’t move me. “Something to Give Each Other” is mostly just there. It’s poppy electric synths meets a bit of European nightclub and dumbed down with some more vibey R&B influences. Yes it encompasses a range of sounds, but it doesn’t swing as hard in any of the directions as I would like it to. There’s no immediate iconic pop anthem to scream at the top of your lungs, nothing you would find at a late night rave nor anything that I would smoke weed and do a face mask to — in other words, there’s nothing that would really fit in my music rotation.
I’ve been playing the album on repeat for the last three days, but it doesn’t seem to stick. I think it’s good to do homework to, but that feels like too strong a diss for a set of ten songs that are genuinely well produced and lyrically interesting. I do find myself singing along to “Got Me Started” a lot, a sweet bop about finding someone who makes your frozen heart thaw again. I find myself repeating “Boy, can I be honest…” over and over again,” a lyric that’s simple but effective in its repetition. And while the horrific sample of “Shooting Stars”, a 2009 song turned meme by Australian Electronic duo Bag Raiders, prevented me from taking the song seriously when I first heard it, I think it perfectly reflects the way the chemicals in my brain skitter around when talking to someone I like.
Luckily for Sivan, pop stardom is not necessarily about the music itself. If the people who made the best music were the most famous, the industry would be run by the most technically proficient vocalists, dancers and producers. Instead, stardom is about the way an artist builds an audience and continues to connect with them. It’s about taking them by the hand and sharing their most intimate experiences and vibrant stories. A star knows how to skillfully bring a new era to fruition, craft new aesthetics, generate new choreography and develop new eye-catching merchandise and fashions.
When I saw Troye in drag in the “One of Your Girls” video (which he later revealed was the first time he ever did drag), I was transported back to 12-year-old Yiming who would put on his pink “wig” and fashion his collection of towels and blankets as skirts, crop tops and dresses for the camera. I felt Troye had fully realized the pop diva mainstay that I always wanted to be. And I was so proud to watch him get there every step of the way, from Bunny Bunny Challenges with Tyler Oakley to the revolutionary “Blue Neighborhood,” to the oh-too relatable lost gay teen years of “Bloom.” Now, we’re at the fully realized and self-assured creative version of Troye. I mean, the album cover literally features his beaming smile between a man's legs.
With “Something to Give Each Other,” Troye’s vision is razor sharp. It’s nastily gay yet longingly sweet. He’s raised a whole generation of young queer people from the internet, and penned intimate songs that invited us into every step of his life. Through his latest album, Youtube’s cutie confidently transformed into gay pop’s twink it-boy. And what a joy it is to bask in.
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