On Oct. 13, Troye Sivan released his third full-length album, “Something To Give Each Other.” Unfortunately, I was a child entrenched in YouTube culture, so anything Sivan makes is something for me to get excited over. Since his 2020 EP “In A Dream” was widely looked over in the pool of COVID-19 releases, I’ve been waiting for Sivan to receive his flowers. His newest record, which was first announced with the summer release of the lead single, “Rush,” feels like it could finally give Sivan his moment.
The artist teased the catchy, powerful chorus to “Rush” for months on TikTok and Instagram before it came out in July, a marketing tactic I can only thank God and the good people at Capitol Records for. The buzz surrounding “Rush,” its unbelievably fun choreography and the sensual music video lasted through the release of the second single, “Got Me Started.” Personally, I prefer the latter song. The electric sample of Bag Raiders’ “Shooting Stars” is a choice that works wonders for me. Some called the sample annoying, but in my eyes Sivan made his fellow Austrailians proud. The music video references Wong Kar-Wai’s “Happy Together” and Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” and, again, showcases Sivan’s newfound dancing efforts. “Got Me Started” is not only one of my favorite tracks on the album, but also one of my favorite videos of Sivan’s entire career.
“Something To Give Each Other” is a joy before even pressing play. The cover of the album centers Sivan’s smiling face looking up, with an unclothed man seen on his shoulders. In his Instagram album announcement, Sivan wrote, “This album is my something to give to you – a kiss on a dancefloor, a date turned into a weekend, a crush, a winter, a summer… Heartbreak, freedom. Community, sisterhood, friendship. All that.” The portrait conveys Sivan’s lack of discretion in his art, both emotionally and sexually. He told NPR, “Something I try and do always in my songs is just really write from a place of real life.” The singer seems completely genuine in his music, and cares little about the questions that arise because of it; he’s not compromising in sharing his life through music, he does so happily.
When first listening to an album, I skip the singles. My apologies to “Rush,” but I want to hear the new stuff! This brought me to “What’s The Time Where You Are?,” a celebration of the excitement that comes with a blooming relationship. The song features an undeniable beat and simple, tongue-twisting lines that I just love the pronunciation of. The album has a trend of upbeat pop anthems; Sivan’s become rich in possible club hits.
“One of Your Girls” is definitely a fan-favorite; the song has unofficially gone triple platinum on the “Friend Activity” tab on my Spotify. Admittedly, when Sivan teased the chorus “Call me if you ever get lonely/I’ll be like one of your girls or your homies,” the writing struck me as a bit corny. However, the music video won me over. It features Sivan in full drag, with costume design that appears to be straight from late ’90s Britney Spears’s closet and Ross Lynch hanging around as an accessory to Sivan’s star power. The video is a delight, but I’m letting the song grow on me more. Currently, my favorite song on the album is “In My Room,” a great marriage of R&B and pop. I had never listened to collaborator Guitarricadelafuente before, but the Spanish singer-songwriter’s calming voice meshes perfectly with Sivan’s as they sing about being unable to get someone out of their minds. The overlapping of mellow strings and percussion makes “In My Room” feel fresh from the kindest dream.
My favorite Sivan songs have always been his saddest ones, which I’m sure has to do with the vulnerability he allows in his music. “Can’t Go Back, Baby” falls firmly into this category. In all of the (appreciated) intimacy-driven dance-hits, the stripped down tune offers a shockingly eerie tone to the middle section of “Something To Give Each Other.” During promotion, Sivan spoke about how the album was written in the aftermath of a three-year relationship. He told Zane Lowe of Apple Music 1, “Untangling yourself from someone, it felt like this big ball of just knotted wool or something like that.” In this track, Sivan perfectly captures the sad reality of working to unravel this entanglement. The song samples Jessica Pratt’s 2014 song “Back, Baby,” with her slowed-down, haunting voice repeating the words “Can’t go back, baby.” Pratt’s feature behind Sivan’s cuttingly-specific lines, such as “On my big weekend, while I was singing songs about you on the TV screen/Don’t know how he left the hotel, I wasn’t there to see,” makes “Can’t Go Back, Baby” a very welcome break for reflecting.
Coming in at just under 33 minutes, “Something To Give Each Other” is a bite-sized piece of pop perfection. Between the sonic shifts, influences ranging from Janet Jackson to Yung Lean and a constant easy spirit to Sivan’s voice, “Something To Give Each Other” has endlessly enhanced these past few rainy weeks.
