Album Review: Troye Sivan’s Blue Neighbourhood

As soon as you click play on the opening track “WILD,” you know your neck is going to hurt from bobbing to the beats. Troye Sivan’s debut album, Blue Neighbourhood, is here! The Australian singer/YouTuber started his music career in 2012, creating a song and music video inspired by the novel, The Fault in Our Stars, that went viral. Since then, he has released a few EPs. One was in anticipation of this album, and met the approval of Taylor Swift!

Blue Neighbourhood is full of unique, powerful tracks. You cannot possibly know what to expect with each song. The first six tracks made up WILD, the EP that Sivan released a few months ago to prep for his first full length studio album. Troye’s silky (dare I say sultry?) voice, paired with some beats and ballads, makes for a wonderful listening experience. The uniqueness of each track amazes me! Some standouts are “FOOLS,” “YOUTH,” and “LOST BOY.” From catchy choruses and clever lyrics, to genre changes in single songs, these tracks had me taking a second listen and nodding my head to the beat, without even realizing it.

Some really cool components of Blue Neighbourhood are the featured artists. I had never heard most of these musicians and was pleasantly surprised by their appearances. I think my favorite appearance is “DKLA”. It starts out slow and chill, then BAM, hits you with a rap verse, featuring Tkay Maidza. She owns that rap! I’m not huge on rap, but I absolutely loved it! Another great duet is “EASE,” which features Broods and a truly beautiful blend of vocals. “HEAVEN” is another one that hits you with beauty. Featuring Betty Who, a fellow Australian, this song is incredibly powerful with Betty’s strong voice, and Troye really amping his vocals up to match her! As soon as “for him.,” featuring Allday started, I knew it was a jam. I literally wound up pumping my arms to the crazy catchy beat! The shoutout to Panic! At the Disco in Allday’s rap section also ranks this track pretty high on my list. “BLUE” features Alex Hope and is the most raw song on the album. Chock-full of emotion, the song can relate to anyone who listens, and conjure emotions in even the most stoic. I just want to say thank you to Troye for introducing me to so many cool artists!

Troye Sivan has one of those voices where he could sing me the phone book and I’d be enraptured. Being someone who has followed his career for the past few years, it’s really incredible to see how far he’s come(hello, Taylor Swift shouted him out, need I say more?). Troye’s talent is very apparent and I cannot wait to see what crazy new places it takes him!

Check out Blue Neighbourhood on Spotify below and Troye’s upcoming tour dates here!