On ‘She’s the Best,’ Troye Sivan Taps Into His Softer Side

Troye Sivan is no stranger to a party. But on his latest album, She’s the Best, the Australian popPopShort for popular music, a broad genre built on catchy melodies, clear hooks, and polished production that aims to reach a wide audience. Pop constantly borrows from other styles, andGo to Pop Glossary star delves into something different, if reflective, this time around.

For Sivan the dance floor has long served as a playground for desire, becoming a place where inhibitions dissolve under strobe lights, and fleeting encounters take on a life of their own. Throughout his career, he has embraced the rituals of nightlife and transformed them into a language of his own, with foundations built upon the fleeting thrill of intimacy, the exhilaration of being wanted, and the freedom that comes with surrendering to the moment. 

Much of this sensibility came to define his last record, Something to Give Each Other, a euphoric celebration of queer desire and human connection that found beauty in the fleeting, messy, and often unpredictable nature of intimacy. There was a certain liberation in the way Sivan approached the subject, allowing himself to revel in the pleasures of the present without necessarily concerning himself with what came after. Yet parties, like all good things, must eventually come to an end. 

On She’s the Best, rather than focusing on the escapism that comes from such a communal setting, the 31-year-old artist unpacks the loneliness and sense of yearning that follow after. For all the euphoria that nightlife promises, there is an undeniable emptiness in its aftermath — the realization that perhaps the intimacy found in a crowded room can feel all the more elusive once you’re left alone with your thoughts.

Into the Deep End

Despite the more introspective themes present in the album’s 12 tracks, much of the musical backbone of this record is very much high-spirited, upbeat, and welcome at the club. Though that doesn’t mean that all of this necessarily sounds the same. The production from Sivan’s star-studded set of collaborators like Jack Antonoff, Cirkut, The 1975’s George Daniels, OzGo, as well as himself, gives each song a different sonic profile that evokes a unique expression of their own. 

Within varying layers, Sivan gets to navigate familiar territories such as electronic popPopShort for popular music, a broad genre built on catchy melodies, clear hooks, and polished production that aims to reach a wide audience. Pop constantly borrows from other styles, andGo to Pop Glossary, dance, and whatnot, while simultaneously dabbling with new sounds like folktronica, downtempo, and even his own spin at alternative rock (though not to be confused with the original song he released for FX’s The Shards.) It’s a given that he knows how to liven up a crowd with material such as the cool club rhythms of “Canada Dry”, the garage influence of “I Do This For You,” the drum & bass touch of “Troye Meets World,” or even the infectious hooks of “Party,” which makes stellar use of Madonna’s “Music” as a sample. 

However, a major strength of She’s The Best is that it doesn’t necessarily revel in the highs of those songs, as the majority of the record highlights a softer, more sincere side to the Aussie popPopShort for popular music, a broad genre built on catchy melodies, clear hooks, and polished production that aims to reach a wide audience. Pop constantly borrows from other styles, andGo to Pop Glossary figure. Given the predominant theme of limerence, Sivan spends a lot of his time fantasizing about a hypothetical lover, aching for someone to call his own. His sincerity is often backed by guitar-laden, piano-driven, or sweeping melodies paired with confessional lyricism that elaborate on his dreams of settling down, unpacking an unspoken desire that many queer individuals tend to bottle up.

Though “Embarrassingly” delves a bit deeper into Sivan’s personal lore, “Cowboy,” “Sex Star,” “Lost Time” with Lily Rose Depp, and the notable highlight “Le Boy” all speak of fictional scenarios to build up what Sivan is envisioning for himself, but the emotional intensity of “FF” is what becomes the emotional crux of the record. Sure, it may be a melancholic love song on its own, yet there lies an underlying heaviness (with credit to the crashing drums and his impassioned vocal delivery) to it that represents that void in Sivan’s heart.

For even with the lack of specificity, the track underscores the loneliness that comes with the queer experience, despite one’s manifestations of a sense of normalcy. If anything, much of it feels like a gradual evolution of what he was able to achieve on his earlier records, particularly the fan-favorite Blue Neighbourhood or often overlooked Bloom, albeit executed with a more mature and jaded perspective. 

However, the album loses a bit of its identity and intention in a surprising position, specifically with its title track. Despite kicking off the album with an anthem that’s meant to honor the women who have been instrumental in the popPopShort for popular music, a broad genre built on catchy melodies, clear hooks, and polished production that aims to reach a wide audience. Pop constantly borrows from other styles, andGo to Pop Glossary star’s life, it’s an odd choice to name the entire record after such a thematic outlier. Sivan’s ode to the women in his life is indeed earnest and admirable, yet his monotonous speak-sing delivery does little to entice listeners to stay tuned all throughout. To the album’s benefit, it was merely a one-off effort.

COMING OFF THE HIGH

If Something to Give Each Other was the euphoric main event, then She’s the Best is the afterparty where all of Sivan’s quieter ruminations finally come to light. It’s a shift in perspective that feels less like an outright departure from the world he has built than a natural progression within it, trading the immediacy of physical connection for the more complicated business of emotional intimacy. 

The party anthems are still very much present, and longtime fans will find no shortage of bops to add to their playlist rotations, but beneath the record’s glossy exterior lies a surprising abundance of vulnerability, with Sivan offering candid confessions about the messier realities of desire, attachment, and the search for something lasting. But in turning his attention to what happens when he finds himself alone, he delivers a more introspective portrait of queer longing, one that recognizes how the pursuit of love can be just as exhilarating as it is exhausting.

Not every fantasy finds a satisfying resolution, and the album occasionally struggles to reconcile its more disparate ideas, with highs that don’t always hit with the same unbridled abandon as their predecessor. But there’s something undeniably admirable about the sincerity with which Sivan allows these contradictions to coexist, as it gives him the necessary space to sit with his own vulnerability.