Troye Sivan’s New Album Is Sultry Bubblegum From A Pop Princeling
Troye Sivan Image by Getty Images
Troye Sivan fiddles with his romantic desires throughout his newly released album, “Bloom.” The proudly gay, Australian pop-princeling peppers the ballads with soft beats and gentle murmurs.
Gone are the days in which artists would insert sly innuendos about their sexual preferences. Sivan does not shy away from discussing his queerness and, in fact, centers the album around his experiences and emotions. His feelings for same-sex romantic partners are starkly unmissable in “Bloom.” Although the breezy tune of the album places it firmly in the section of mainstream pop, it stands uniquely on its own as an unapologetically confident embrace of his sexuality melded with the typical bubblegum pop attitude.
Some of our favorite moments:
“Lucky Strike” tackles Sivan’s hopeful romanticism with an oddly enjoyable robotic beat, as he urges, “tell me all the ways to love you.”
“What a Heavenly Way to Die” uses warm sentimentality that verges of sappy, “What a heavenly way to die. What a time to be alive. Because forever is in your eyes. But forever ain’t half the time.”
“The Good Side” is one of the more folky tunes of the album, as he softly croons to a soothing beat, “baby, I apologize that I got the good side of things”.
A-Lister Ariana Grande joins Sivan on the lilting track “Dance to This” and they chant together peppily, “we can just dance to this”
Troye Sivan’s angelic blonde hair and powder-blue eyes, and happy-go-lucky-persona make our hearts burst with purely surface-level affection for the pop artist. But setting aside our materialistic admiration for the singer — the album is undeniably likeable, but we think it lacks a certain oomph factor. We’re not sure “Bloom” has what it takes to propel Sivan’s career to superstardom just yet. The album is notable in its inclusion of direct LGBTQ references, but overall we’re still looking forward to Sivan’s bloom.
Tamar Skydell is an intern at The Forward. You can contact her at skydell@forward.com
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