Troye Sivan - She’s The Best

Troye Sivan’s first album in three years is arguably the most musically diverse release in his discography. It’s equal parts energetic and tender, even if not every track quite fits into the bigger picture.

Troye Sivan’s influence on the contemporary queer music scene is hard to deny: for more than a decade, he has been one of its most prominent voices. And given that he doesn’t release music particularly often, every new project feels like an event. Three years after the triumph of Something to Give Each Other, the album that got everyone dancing, Sivan returns with She’s The Best, a record bursting with an eclectic range of musical influences. Yet his songwriting and vocal delivery occasionally feel a little tired.

The album opens with its lead single, “She’s The Best” — an unexpected move in Sivan’s discography, with the artist embracing spoken word to pay tribute to the women who have surrounded him throughout his life. Rather than turning the concept into something overly sentimental, however, he focuses on the more amusing details. Take the line “She takes down an incel on the internet / When she needs just a little unwind” — it’s hard not to crack a smile.

Next comes “Canada Dry”, a club banger inspired by Madonna’s ’90s trip-hop era. It’s difficult not to nod along to Sivan’s sweet, lilting vocals as he sings about his Canadian crush, or to resist the excitement of an outro that recalls Britney Spears’ Blackout era. The tender indie-pop of “Cowboy”, meanwhile, evokes the sound of The 1975’s most recent album, transporting the listener from the club to an intimate romantic rendezvous. It’s one of the gentlest moments on the record, and a setting in which Sivan sounds completely at home.

The explosive serenade “Le Boy”, addressed to an imaginary love interest, takes your breath away with its storming chorus. It’s one of the album’s strongest moments, even if Sivan himself sounds unusually detached throughout. The song feels like a manifesto, an affirmation so forceful that its sheer weight seems to bend the listener into submission. “FF”, in turn, feels downright magical. The delicate dream-pop production from Jack Antonoff and George Daniel suits Sivan perfectly, while the songwriting ranks among the most honest and intimate on She’s The Best. “Love So Big It Hurts” carries that romantic spirit forward: the strings and guitars lend the song an even more cinematic quality, while Sivan’s tender vocals seem to float effortlessly above the sonic landscape.

Unfortunately, the album doesn’t maintain this momentum throughout. Take “Party”, which samples Madonna’s hit “Music”. The idea is intriguing, but the track ultimately goes nowhere, managing to wear out its welcome despite its relatively modest runtime. The entire song is built around little more than three lines, and Sivan’s vocals sound especially bland here.

“I Do This for You” boasts an interesting musical progression reminiscent of Janet Jackson, but its lyrical content is just as underwhelming. It works well enough as background music, yet closer attention reveals a track that feels more like filler than a fully realized song. The excruciating “Sex Star” becomes tiresome by the two-minute mark, and Sivan’s wavering, off-key vocals do little to salvage it, only making the whole thing feel stranger. Imagine listening to a drunk guy singing karaoke at a queer club, and you’ll get the idea.

The main problem with She’s The Best is that so many of its songs lack the magic that made Something to Give Each Other such an exceptional record. There’s nothing here quite like “Rush” or “Honey”, and Sivan himself seems unsure of what he wants to sing about. The production, however, is genuinely outstanding — arguably the most varied of his career. It would once have been difficult to imagine him blending trip-hop, alternative country, and dream pop with psychedelic flourishes, yet here he pulls off that combination with considerable flair. She’s The Best is an enjoyable record that makes for pleasant background listening, but, unfortunately, it reveals relatively little about the depth of Sivan’s artistry.

6.8/10