Troye Sivan Owes Us a Good Night Out
Getting Nicole Kidman into a music video is an excellent way to announce a party. Keeping someone listening once the cameo is over takes a different kind of persuasion. Troye Sivan releases She’s the Best, his fourth studio album, on Friday, October 9. The title-track video has already supplied the famous guest.
Sivan's description of the album promises elation with loneliness underneath. That is a claim to test when the record arrives. A glossy campaign can promise emotional depth as easily as it can promise a good time; the music has to make either one worth staying for.
The laptop is a poor dance floor
Sivan has made a more practical point about his second single. In the September announcement, he describes wanting a song to feel like a night spent moving between places, and argues that repetition works differently on a dance floor than it does through laptop speakers.
That is a fair challenge to the impatient listener. A repeated phrase can grow more compelling as you settle into it. Judging every passage by whether it introduces something new is a poor way to judge dance music. Equally, nobody owes a dull loop another five minutes because the artist has a theory.
The useful question for the new album is whether you want to stay. We have not reviewed the full record. We would give its repetitions time before reaching for skip, then be ruthless about which ones earn a return. Melancholy in the press release should not buy the music any extra credit.
Bring the previous album
Something to Give Each Other, released in 2023, is the obvious companion. In his Apple Music track commentary, Sivan talks about renewed connection, pleasure and the awkwardness of wanting someone who may want something different. His account gives you more to listen for than a simple journey from lonely to liberated.
Revisit it before October 9. Pay attention to where the confidence feels easy and where it starts to wobble. You can enjoy a dance record without demanding that every good time conceal a terrible morning after.
Then give She’s the Best a full play on decent speakers or headphones. Save the album comparison for afterwards. First find out whether there is anything you want to hear again as soon as it ends. Kidman has already done her part.
