Perth-based 20-year-old Troye Sivan is the unofficial poster child for a proactive, powerful internet generation, diving headfirst into mainstream entertainment with reckless ambition and inspiring confidence. With his internet people wholeheartedly behind him, he’s gone from aspiring young Youtube personality to international artist and creative genius; Sivan once looked to other innovative online content creators for inspiration, but now he’s paving the way and leading the charge himself.
After an enormous online release campaign (spearheaded by Troye himself through his social media channels), Sivan has released ‘WILD’, a “six song keyhole” into the music he will be releasing for the rest of the year. Immediately soaring to the top of 40+ iTunes charts internationally on just pre-orders alone, there’s really no denying Sivan’s viability as an artist in a rapidly changing industry – this guy is quietly changing the game with his subversive online community-driven formula, and it’s working.
Luckily, the music is really fucking impressive in itself; Sivan has managed to up the ante from his 2014 EP ’TRXYE’ on all fronts. Opening track “WILD” is everything a successful pop track needs to be, but it’s certainly anything but cliched or predictable; Sivan has been careful to select progressive, aware future-pop producers like Alex Hope, SLUMS and Jia Lih to develop a dark, trap-tinged electronic identity. Centred around an infectious child choir hook and epic 80s’ pads, “WILD” has a beautifully nostalgic, intimate sound to it, allowing Sivan to show off a new-found confidence in his voice, riding on the strength of the melody alone. With the spacious, erotic “BITE”, Sivan projects a sombre, theatrical reluctance and sensuality, rendered especially effective with an arrangement and sparsity that wouldn’t sound out of place on Lorde’s ‘Pure Heroine’.
For later tracks like the confessional “FOOLS” or the powerfully pained “THE QUIET”, the production ramps up a notch, proving Sivan’s affinity for hard hitting, percussion-based trap beats and throbbing synths; on the former, he’s included recordings of his fans at recent public appearances shouting “ONLY FOOLS!” for an über meta, inclusive touch. They’re not the only special guests on ‘WILD’: Troye invited hugely successful Kiwi duo BROODS to collaborate on the shimmering, hushed “EASE”, proving a real compatibility with Georgia Nott’s sublime voice and an insightful maturity in dealing with distance from their loved ones. Ominous EP closer “DKLA” also draws on the buzz surrounding 19-year-old Adelaide rapper Tkay Maidza, flexing her vicious flow on a very fitting finishing verse.
Troye Sivan’s massive success confirms that the way we engage with music is beginning to change, and it’s a beautiful sight to behold. Go #teaminternet…
You can purchase ‘WILD’ on iTunes right here. Alternatively, you can stream it through Spotify below…