Last year, Australian Troye Sivan released his debut EP, “TRXYE,” which charted at number 5 on the Billboard Music Charts. This was an extraordinary accolade for a singer that received almost no commercial radio play or promotion.
How did Sivan achieve this feat? Through his millions of online followers.
The singer started his YouTube channel in 2007 and since then has amassed over 3.5 million subscribers. His music video from the EP for his single “Happy Little Pill” has over seventeen million views and counting. This loyal fan base has helped him break out from the internet and into the pop music industry.
After a year of songwriting, Sivan released “Wild,” which he calls a short album containing six songs, including the title track “Wild,” “Bite,” “Fools,” “Ease ft. Broods,” “The Quiet,” and “DKLA ft. Tkay Maidza”. The album shows a more mature Sivan with a deeper and more brooding sound while still keeping consistent with his pop-synth vibes. When asked, he describes his genre of music as dark alternative pop, similar to the likes of Lorde and Frank Ocean, who he finds to be his strongest inspirations.
The album includes collaborations with Broods and Tkay Maidza. Broods is a New Zealand duo with a unique sound that has helped them headline for pop gods such as Sam Smith and perform at music festivals like Lollapalooza. Tkai Maidza is a prominent Australian rapper that is working her way up to the mainstream. Trust me, she is much better than Iggy Azalea.
The title track has the loudest sound and takes you into the world of “Wild,” which Sivan says is his favorite song on the album. The background accompaniment has two young girls saying “HEY,” which Sivan says he came up with at the last minute to help with the playful, pop sound.
Sivan describes his next song, “Bite,” as the first time a person goes to a gay club and the sweatiness and yearning that accompanies it. Sivan sings, “Kiss me on the mouth and set me free, but please don’t bite” over a soft, melodic, backing sound.
The third track, “Fools,” which is my personal favorite, includes the mantra “only fools fall for you”. The song puts a new spin on the idea of brooding over a partner that you know is bad for you. Sivan describes the next song, Ease, as the familiarity and easiness that he feels around his loved ones. He is very close to his family, which includes parents Laurelle and Shaun Mellet and his three siblings, Sage, Tyde and Steele.
“The Quiet” is the darkest song on the mini album, with Sivan musing that “anything hurts less than the quiet”, which speaks to the silence that accompanies a broken relationship.
DKLA, or Don’t Keep Love Around, has the potential to be an excellent song, but it fails to deliver. It feels like two separate songs, with Sivan singing the first eighty percent and Maidza coming in at the end. Overall, the album is a beautifully crafted masterpiece that truly changes the pop industry.
“Wild” has brought Sivan many accolades around the globe. Once pre-order was available, it hit number one in over thirty countries. It has also received recognition from pop superstars such as Taylor Swift, who described “Wild” as “STUNNING AND AWESOME” to her sixty-three million twitter followers. Sam Smith, also said, “[Sivan] has a voice that does things to his body.” That kind of promotion is sure to get any album to number one. “Wild” is expected to debut in the top ten of the Billboard chart and has been received well by critics and fans alike.
Sivan has stated that more music should be arriving before the end of the year and I personally could not be more excited for more tunes from this unique pop sensation.