Troye Sivan’s fourth album “She’s the Best,” released Oct. 9, oscillating between the dance floor’s hypnotizing hedonism and the desperate want for something real. It’s a dedication to both the party girl and a figment of a true love not yet realized. Sivan tells a full story of joy, friendship, love and loneliness.
“She’s the Best” opens with the perfect title track. It is a tribute to women who inspire him. The music video features many different women in their element, including Nicole Kidman. Sivan describes these women in a spoken word style; women who contain multitudes, moving through life with chaos and confidence. A standout line is the singer’s characterization of this iconic figure as both a “night owl and somehow an early bird / She kinda just stays perpetually tired.” Sivan’s specificity and imagery shines through on this album.
This experimental approach continues on the next track “Party.” Sivan plays a knight in the campy, medieval-inspired music video.wOnce again in a spoken word style, the word party repeats for most of the song. The repetition flows effortlessly and the beat is impossible not to dance to. Sivan conveys that partying carries a cultural significance to humanity, especially for queer people.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Sivan said “Nightlife is often the first place a queer person finds themselves in a room where they’re not the minority, so it becomes a really formative and liberating space for so many of us.” In the music video, Sivan wanted to communicate how important “letting loose” is to the human experience and imagine what partying would look like in a different historical time. Fighting scenes are interrupted by dancing and romance, showing how joy and love have always persevered even in dark times.
“Canada Dry” carries that momentum forward. It is a celebration of the heat of the moment on the dance floor and the sweaty desire that’s born on it. Sivan’s imagery is sharp with lines like “Laid out on the pavement, losing track of the hour.”
The first few tracks focus on the temporary connection found within crowds. However, by the fourth track, “I Do This For You,” the idea feels worn out. Given it’s the fourth song in a row that talks about desire, it’s somewhat redundant. Like the previous songs, it utilizes repetition but instead of supporting that creative choice with a high-energy sound, “I Do This For You” has a mid-tempo, jazzy production that feels out of place with the lyrics.
Fortunately, the album’s transition into more profound territory begins in the next track, “Cowboy,” as Sivan addresses a specific love interest with a more intimate look at desire. The singer surrenders himself completely to the subject of the song. With the “cowboy,” he loses the facade of confidence he displays when pursuing others in songs like “Canada Dry” and instead accepts the control his lover has over him is unescapable.
“I wanna feel your shackles against my wrist / I wanna taste the blood on your busted lip,” Sivan confesses, moving into more emotional territory as he addresses the subject. “I wanna know you / All from the inside out / I wanna tell you / All that I’ve been dreaming about.”
“Le Boy” is a standout track on “She’s the Best.” It introduces the audience to the mystery boy that Sivan has dedicated half the album to. “Le boy” is an imaginary object of affection, lying somewhere in the unseen future. The lack of an actual name for the muse symbolizes the pure fantasy of him. Sivan has no idea who this man may be; he merely embodies the hopes and dreams the singer has for his perfect match. Despite an objectively great life, the singer feels that something is missing. He tries to distract himself but still finds himself writing a song for a muse that he has not met, and conjures so poignantly in his imagination that the anticipatory love overtakes him. Sivan is searching for “the one.”
The verses have a calm production before suddenly becoming loud in the choruses, as the desperacy behind the one simple phrase “le boy” cannot be contained. The song fades out into a dreamy outro featuring some of the most poetic lyrics on the album: “I was born in love with you / Love was sure fresh out the womb / And rest assured, you’re coming home soon.” He evokes the concept of soulmates, a love that’s predestined since birth. There’s a beautiful hope embedded in these words that all the waiting will be worth it.
Sivan’s yearning leans into melancholia on “Love So Big It Hurts.” His vulnerability is complimented by the guitar and string instrumentation that shines through in the beginning and end of the song. The song starts by building up the narrative of loneliness. Sivan writes of completing ordinary routines like, “I fold my sheets, cook and clean, goin’ outta my mind,” while he tries to pass time. It’s when the day is done and he’s laying alone in bed at night that there’s no way to distract himself from his yearning.
Night as a force of loneliness and desire is a recurring theme on “She’s the Best.” On “Embarrassingly,” Sivan admits that thoughts of a past relationship still plague his mind once the sun goes down. This detail is what connects the two major types of songs on the album. The party anthems represent the daytime in which Sivan distracts himself. Meanwhile, the other songs represent the nighttime when the distraction is over and the emotions he suppressed come to the surface. When he returns home alone, the yearning cannot be controlled.
The post-party section is the stronger part of the album; it’s almost entirely cohesive but is interrupted by “Troye Meets World” placed as the ninth song on the tracklist. It’s another party track, referencing dancing and amorous connections with strangers, yet is positioned between two love songs. Apart from the lyrical content being misaligned with this part of the album, the sound also feels out of place given the slower-tempo, atmospheric instrumentation of the songs around it versus “Troye Meets World’s” fast-paced, electronic production.
“She’s the Best” has a few missteps, but is a transformative experience nonetheless. Its biggest mistake is dragging out some concepts too long and risking the power of a tight narrative. Both the party and intimate love concepts would be stronger with one or two songs cut out, like “Troye Meets World” and “I Do This For You. Sivan experiments with different styles of production and lyricism to tell an honest story. The singer explores the euphoric state of being surrounded by crowds and lust as well as the crushing emotions that hit when the music stops. Sivan proves his strength as an artist by allowing his contradicting feelings to coexist.
Ayiana Grana is an Arts & Entertainment Staff Writer. She can be reached at angrana@uci.edu
Edited by Travis Foley and Geneses Navarro.
