Troye Sivan gives us Something To Give Each Other.
Troye Sivan’s third studio album is a call to the dance floor and a reminder of the importance of love and community in the queer music scene.
Anyone who knows me has probably heard me begging Troye Sivan to come back to pop. Like many middle schoolers that had Tumblr, I was there to stream Blue Neighborhood, Sivan’s debut album. But I must flex that I go back even further; I was subscribed to him back in his YouTube days, and his 2014 EP TRXYE is still saved in my Spotify. Sivan’s songs have peppered my playlists since I have had my own pair of earbuds. Whether it’s for my study sessions or my party playlists, he carries a pop sound that I can’t find anywhere else.
Don’t get me wrong: I am not one of those people that constantly reminisces for 2016, and I never thought pop needed saving. But Sivan had been absent from my New Music Friday for far too long, and I missed that boy in the blue neighborhood. When he released “Rush,” I was ecstatic – an energetic beat, a fast tempo, and a colorful music video with unique choreography. My pop prince had returned. His real return was October 13 with the release of his third studio album, Something to Give Each Other, a ten-track album that explores love, lust, heartbreak, and liberation.
Many of his songs were produced by Swedish producer Oscar Görres. Gorres has worked with Sivan in the past, producing singles like “My My My!” and “Take Yourself Home,” but Gorres has also written and produced songs with and for numerous pop girls, such as MARINA, Britney Spears, Tove Lo, and even Taylor Swift. Evidently, Sivan was in good hands to forge his own sound in a new studio album.
Along with the production, Sivan’s choreography has made this album rollout a highlight for 2023 and his career as an artist. This is thanks to Sergio Reis, who choreographed “Rush” and “Got Me Started.” “Rush,” the first track and first single for the album, prepares you for the sonic world Sivan has been creating up to the album’s release. The infectious chorus chants, “I feel the rush / Addicted to your touch” and it’s simply so good, so good. The fast tempo certainly resonates with “the feeling of kissing a sweaty stranger on a dancefloor” that Sivan described to Pitchfork. Visually, “Rush” plays with bright, bold colors and shows bodies together on the dance floor. While “Got Me Started” is not as intense or fast-paced as “Rush,” the music video still follows the aesthetic well. Reis’ choreography trended yet again after the video’s release.
Personally, I do not expect the singles for an album to be the best songs from that album; but the third single “One Of Your Girls” breaks my assumption. The music video stars Sivan in drag seducing Ross Lynch, fully offering himself up to his lover. The white background and simple but seductive dancing in a chair pays homage to Beyoncé and Lady Gaga dancing in front of a similar background in the music video for “Video Phone.” Admittedly, I wasn’t familiar with that song before Sivan’s music video, but his reference to two pop legends only further cements my love for the song. I don’t know if it’s the amazing synths and vocals on this track, or his incredible mug in the music video (he sings himself “face card, no cash no credit”), but this is definitely one of my favorite songs and music videos of 2023.
In “What’s The Time Where You Are?,” Sivan turns a simple question his lover could easily google into a dance pop song about missing the boy you want to dance the night away with. He sings that “I'm right on top of this groove (Groove) / But, God, I wish it was you (You).” Sivan thinks about love in his bedroom again with his fourth track, “In My Room,” which features Spanish guitarist and singer Guitarricadelafuente. He compares this unbearably distracting crush to being sixteen again, and confesses that “I'm all alone in my room / I'm just thinkin' 'bout you / It's a feeling I can't describe.” These two songs illustrate Sivan’s affinity for coy lyricism that can never really hide his desires.
I must admit that “Still Got It” and “Can’t Go Back, Baby” are the weaker songs on the album, as he departs from the intense desires, emotion, and (dare I say) rush of the earlier songs. But trust that he will get you back on the dance floor with “Honey,” which I predict to be another standout from the album. He sings another infectious chorus in front of synths and glorious house production; desire triumphs any of his nerves when he sings “I don't know how I'm gonna tell you what you really mean, yeah / Give me that honey, honey, love, you've got the recipe.”
Sivan slows it down for the closing track, “How To Stay With You,” where he takes a step back from the dance floor and wants to stay in bed with a new lover. With cute, cozy lyrics like “I feel like my mother might like you / just not in the same way I do,” this track is certainly a change of pace from the rest of the album. Despite the energy throughout the album the mellow groove of this song makes it an excellent closer to the joy ride that is Something To Give Each Other.
Not only does Sivan know how to make a good pop track to dance to, but his unapologetic authenticity asserts his presence in music. Claims have been made about Sivan being a queer icon early in his career; however, this eagerness to call him an icon typically stems from his privilege as a skinny, pretty white boy in the music industry. He would be remiss to ignore his privilege in the industry; thankfully, he is aware of this, and he has rejected the title of icon in the past. Near the announcement of Bloom in 2018, he said in an interview with Another Man that “I politely don’t want to take on that ‘gay icon’ thing. I’m one voice of so many that are missing, and so I’m just trying to tell my story.” While I wouldn’t declare him an icon yet, Sivan is certainly forging his own path for himself within pop’s landscape.
In his social media announcement for the album in July 2023, he says “This album is my something to give you – a kiss on a dancefloor, a date turned into a weekend, a crush, a winter, a summer. Party after party, after party after after party. Heartbreak, freedom. Community, sisterhood, friendship.” This encapsulates the feeling of Something To Give Each Other. These songs are infused with this feeling of a kiss on a dancefloor turned into something more: a feeling of desire for another body on the dance floor that makes its way to the bedroom, or a crush turned into a romantic night in. In Sivan’s music, you can tell that he is secure in himself, both as a queer person navigating the world and as a queer artist changing expectations of how pop can sound.
If I had to select three essential tracks, I would pick “One Of Your Girls,” “Honey,” and “How to Stay With You.” But truly, the entirety of Something To Give Each Other is worth a full listen. This album reminds you that these emotions of excitement and liberation are not just to be shared with your one true love, but also meant to be shared with those in your community closest to you. While not yet a music icon, this album certainly proves Sivan to be a pop savant worth noting.
edited by Sydney Cook.
album artwork believed to belong to either the publisher of the work or the artist.
