Troye Sivan's Blue Neighbourhood

An album review.

You may have heard of Troye Sivan as the lovable Australian YouTuber, however he proves that he does a lot more than make videos on his channel. On top of being a child actor as well as a popular media personality, the 20 year old singer released his first ever album Blue Neighbourhood on December 4th, 2015. His electric dream pop album takes you deep into his personal life and many one-liners truly resonate with listeners. Troye’s lyrics are impressive to say the least but with his team of writers, featuring Alex Hope and Aliexxx, they really know how to fuse dozens of emotions and poetry into his songs. The beats of the album are catchy and instruments are very intriguing. Everything about this album flows well together and acts as if he is telling one long story rather than singing a collection of random songs. Although his voice is good and is very sombre, it’s clear he is still developing vocally nonetheless you can feel the sincerity and passion when he sings. In my opinion his album is deep because it touches on subject that people don’t normally talk about, it’s raw and gritty and real.

The album also features tracks from his EP Wild which was released on October 13th, 2015 following his EP TRXYE which he released a year earlier on August 15th, 2014. Troye Sivan was born in Johannesburg, South Africa but moved to Australia when he was 3 years old with his parents and three other siblings. At an early age he began acting, starring in X-Men: Wolverine as the young Wolverine in 2009 and in Spud a South African film trilogy about boarding school. Sivan often called it “Harry Potter but without the magic.” Surprisingly though that wasn’t his big ticket into music, it was when Troye started a YouTube channel on September of 2012 and continued to grow as a media star until he earned 4 million subscribers. As a child he used to sing but when he made an original song for the novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene and uploaded it, he was offered a contract from EMI Music Australia. Once he was signed with them and Capitol Records America he began to make original music.

Since Troye Sivan is just breaking into the music scene but for a first time album, it’s safe to say he’s doing more than just an exceptional job. He scored an overall 80/100 when reviewed by major music companies such as Billboard and Metacritic and has even won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist. His music has been compared to Lorde because of its dark flare and rhythmic beats, however the comparison everyone dawns on is that he is similar to Justin Bieber. Not really because of their music, but because of their similar styles and their cult following of die-hard fans. Other artists that suit Troye’s music styles are Broods, Oh Wonder and Years and Years, whose genres are all a mix of indie meets electric dance pop.

The album Blue Neighbourhood features 12 songs, 6 of which are from the Wild EP and include hits like “Fools” and “Wild” while there is a deluxe version 16 songs. There is also a Target version with two more never before heard songs called “Swimming Pools” which in my opinion matched the album so much that it should have been on the original track list. There is also an acoustic version of his song “Happy Little Pill” from his other EP TRXYE which talks about those struggling with depression and taking some of the pain away with a few pills. Many of his songs contain dark themes and like any good album should, Troye has a list of special guests featured in his songs. They consist of British rappers Tkay Maidza who worked on the track “DKLA” and AllDay who said a few lines in “For Him.” Fellow Australian singer Betty Who is featured on the gut-wrenching track “Heaven” and so is the indie duo Broods who is on the smooth soulful track, Ease. Troye’s very own writer Alex Hope, whose voice is the perfect match to Sivan’s, creating a lovely duet in the song “Blue.” These artists, though small, had a part in making the album great.

The theme for the CD stems from Troye Sivan’s personal life. In 2013 he came out to his internet followers, and after years of struggling with his sexuality he accepted that this is who he truly was. He is now an advocate for the LGBTQ community and his songs are all centered on his experience with love, coming to terms with being gay, coming out to family member, and his wild journey as a youth trying to explore the world. The album has many ballads and smooth songs belting out melodies or regret or songs of sorrow about not being good enough, however they all seem to tell a story. In fact, Sivan realized this himself so he made a three part trilogy of music videos all centred on this one concept of being in love with someone you shouldn’t be involved with.

The first theme he introduces is young love and how thrilling it is to go crazy and make mistakes. For his song “Youth” his lines “my youth is yours” it expresses how when you’re in love with someone at an early age, you’re giving a piece of your time on this earth to them. “Wild” features the lyrics “running on the music and night highs” describes a night full of mischief and give nostalgia to listeners who understands what it’s like to feel empowered and drunk on life. The theme of Sivan’s sexuality comes into play as well as his fears of wanting to love someone who he knows will never love him back. In “Fools” he sings of a lonely time when he utters the lyrics “but everything is shattering and it’s my mistake, only fools fall for you, only fools.” His distain is evident in his statement.

In his song “Heaven” featuring Betty Who, he shares his experiences saying “this voice inside has been eating at me, trying to replace the love that I fake with what we both need” and tells of the time where he hid who he was from his parents. In this lyric he is especially targeting his father and how he feels that since Jewish upbringing made his family very faithful, his fears about not going to heaven were a concern in his past. Lastly, the theme of pain and hurt in his own self is expressed in songs “Lost Boy” and “Talk Me Down” where he tells listeners “I’m just some dumb kid, trying to kid myself that I got my life together” and “Cause you know that I can’t trust myself with my 3AM shadow, I’d rather fuel a fantasy than deal with this alone.” His raw honesty in his lyrics is what attracts fans and what makes individuals share his pain. Troye Sivan is an artist, like many others, who has the ability to make you feel every ounce of his emotions.

Though it is clear that Troye is an artist who knows what he wants, there is no denying that some songs were better than others. Songs that got attention and stood out were “Youth” because of its ability to transport you to a time of pure happiness as well as “Wild which had the same effect. Other songs that make you feel for the singer were “Lost Boy” and “Heaven” because the singer’s angst and frustration poured out. Who doesn’t love when individuals are able to see their flaws and are able to vent about them? Another song that made you want to bop your head and smile all day long is “For Him.” a song he made for his boyfriend consisting of charming lyrics such as “you don’t have to say I love you to say I love you” and “sickeningly sweet like honey, don’t need money, all I need is you.”

However there were some tracks that could have been featured on another album or just didn’t belong at all. This included “The Quiet” which sounded strangely like Nickelback and whose lyrics were downright angry and a little choppy. Another song that didn’t match the album was “Cool” which was a really good song, but it just didn’t fit the overall theme of the singer. This song sang of the hunger and need for people to be seen as cool or attractive and the beats were similar to a swinging 90’s song. Though it wasn’t like the dark, electric pop that everything else seemed to sound like. Although, with the success of this album it can be compared to other pop albums such as Tove Lo, another up-in-comer Alessia Cara, and those who have been in the business for quite some time such as Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga. He’s no Michael Jackson yet but he has a distinct some and some life experience under his belt. When it comes to the instruments, he knocks it out of the park, even beating artist like Katy Perry and Selena Gomez who seem to just keep one rhythm throughout a song. Though his vocals are at an early stage and can be compared to a boy version of Lorde meets Carly Rae Jepsen. Troye can be compared to dozens of artists but at the end of the day he is truly his own brand.

As a new artist trying to pave a new path, I give Troye Sivan’s Blue Neighbourhood a strong 7.95 out of 10 because though his songs are unique and powerful. In my opinion, it takes some time to warm up to the singer and his new style of doing things but once you listen to it, you will definitely get hooked. His voice isn’t the usual soulful melodic type like Sam Smith or Adele but he works with what he has. Though the rating is not a complete 8 it is because he is still trying to find his sound and some of his supporters overlook some of his work because of the other things they enjoy seeing him in. Troye’s album has still made a huge impact and if he continues further down this path, there is no doubt that he will be more than successful. This album is highly recommended if you are a dreamer, have been heartbroken or are looking for a good jam this is the album for you.

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