Pop phenomenon Troye Sivan’s second album communicates, with precision and depth, just how love, lust and loss can feel. Conjuring stirring crescendos, stimulating deep emotions and delivering spine-tingling energy, ‘Bloom’ is a brave and brilliant anthology of a life lived with an open heart and mind.
Introducing the 10 track journey with the ‘80s-tinged, confessional Seventeen, Sivan’s soaring epiphanies set a high bar. Recounting moments encountered as a young, naive gay man, his memories are expressed with great honesty and humour.
Whether spinning anecdotes of signing up, underage, to Grindr or just meeting a man he desires, a hunger for exploration resonates strongly on this record.
Sivan’s voice is clean and understated, his lyrics mature and penetrating. The electronic and instrumental arrangements all lead to a joyful place, free from cliché or contrived effects, liberating the listener.
Moments like The Good Side still move with a sense of melancholy, but speak, simultaneously, from a place of contentment: “I’ve got the good side of life, travelled the universe twice.” The track is a beautiful accomplishment, with its heartbeat pulsing production and atmospheric sound allowing for a real sense of Sivan’s self and turmoil to come to the fore, tangible and tender.
Postcard is a lullaby-esque, slow winding love song where Sivan’s voice works well in correlation with the Australian singer-songwriter Gordi. The sexy, winding R&B of Dance To This, featuring Ariana Grande, is simple but stunning. Mirroring both musicians’ voices, the tidal movement of the track is spellbinding.
Crucially, there is no filler on ‘Bloom’. Every track has been designed to allow us access to an important thought or experience in the author's life. Each potential single could steer Sivan to a different place with his career, but What A Heavenly Way To Die would be a strong direction to follow.
His stripped back vocals wistfully dance, introspectively musing on the sheer beauty of being in love. This is the kind of music that makes you wish you were in the arms of another. It is music that transports us to a place of promise. Sivan makes truly wonderful pop songs and his influence on chart music is a delight; a force for good.
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