It’s Troye Sivan’s dream and we’re just living in it
Bop along to the Australian’s newest EP
In a Dream
Troye Sivan
EMI Recorded Music Australia Pty Ltd.
August 21, 2020
Amidst a pandemic, Troye Sivan’s still got some bops he needs to drop. The 25-year-old Australian singer-songwriter is someone whose career I’ve been following for the past seven years, back when he was just a lowly YouTube sensation. He released his latest EP, In a Dream, six years after his first EP and start of his music career, TRXYE. I’ve listened to every single album and EP on the day it was released and bought tickets to a show on each tour he’s had, even that one time he had two tours for the same album. The first concert I ever went to was for Blue Neighborhood at the House of Blues in Chicago, where I later realized Troye’s dad, in a private booth across the balcony, was snapping videos of the guy grooving along in front of me. I then forced this stranger to coerce Troye’s dad to come over to the balcony after the show ended, where I confessed my undying love for his son. This poor man looked me in the eyes and with a heavy Australian accent said, “You know he’s gay, right?”
I’m still in love with him. Probably his biggest fan. Even went outside in the middle of a funeral when the pre-sale tickets for the Bloom Tour were out two summers ago, just so I could snag some VIP tickets. I’m heavily biased, so this review may mean nothing to you, but I hope it’s still a good read. Track by track, here are my thoughts, along with some out-of-context lyrics that fuel the quarantine mood this summer:
Take Yourself Home
Relatable Q Lyric: “sad in the summer”
Just a bop. A solid, classic, Troye Sivan bop. I love this song, and everyone I know who’s heard it likes it. “Take Yourself Home” was released earlier this summer as a single for the EP, and similar to other singles for past Troye albums, it’s very pop and very catchy. And if you know anything about Troye, you know he’s into EDM. The last minute or so of the song is a lyricless, chill, dreamy tune that snaps into up-tempo EDM for the last ten seconds.
Easy
Relatable Q Lyric: “this house is on fire, woo!”
On first listen, I thought this song would be perfect for the part of a rom-com movie where someone realizes their mistake and is running back to their S.O. to re-confess their love and get back together. Anything that involves a montage of running and bustling through a crowd. On second listen, the lyrics tell a different story. I was so thrown off by how happy and up-tempo this song was that I didn’t realize it’s actually a break up song. Whoops. I like the contrast, though; Troye’s always keeping me on my toes. Also a bop.
could cry just thinkin about you
Relatable Q Lyric: “now I’m knee deep in this mess”
I just thought this interlude was weird. It felt almost… country-ish? I was confused by the mix of medleys, and Troye’s voice was too distant for my liking.
STUD
Relatable Q Lyric: “what’s it like to be so big and strong and so buff? / everything I’m not”
It was hard to see this song on the EP tracklist and not immediately think of the student center. But no, this was not a song about questionable deli meats from the former stud Subway, but instead an emo Troye song about the low self-esteem he’s been dealing with while in quarantine (at least this is what I gather from his Instagram). At first, his voice sounded like it was being hidden under a robotic layer of weird EDM crap, but hey, it’s a good beat. I got more into it on the second listen.
Rager teenager!
Relatable Q Lyric: “sleeping and spending nights, wasting time”
I really liked the idea of this one, it’s a whole message to his younger self. It’s pretty cute. This song’s a little slower, so it makes sense why it wasn’t one of the singles released. Troye (or his manager?) tends to save the catchiest, poppiest song for his singles. The outro to this song felt like it belonged in a storyline video game when the prince is reunited with the princess or some crap like that. Overall, just cute.
IN A DREAM
Relatable Q Lyric: “took a flight all the way home, yeah (Ooh)”
This track really felt like it could’ve been featured in a John Hughes movie. While listening to this song, I also had the sudden urge to play DDR — I blame the beat. This song is more in line with mainstream Troye: the clap-along-and-sing type of pop song I could see him ending his concert with.
Overall, In a Dream was, well, dreamy. Troye was a big fan of distancing his voice and using layers to create echos and a dreamy effect, while maintaining his quintessential pop/EDM tune. Well, except for that weird country interlude. I’m hoping this EP means there’s hope for a full-length album sometime soon, similar to how Blue Neighborhood started out as the EP WILD before 10 more songs were added. If that happens and a tour rolls around, you know I’ll have my Ticketmaster app locked and loaded for a presale release.