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Hey, and welcome to Discoverography, the podcast where we… Oh, wait, that’s the wrong show. Anyways, while my faithful co-host and I explore music from across genres and across decades, I decided to utilize this blog in order to talk about some more recent releases and go in-depth with them. I’ve thought about doing this for awhile, but was a little stumped on where to begin until just recently, when I first heard YouTube personality-turned-superstar Troye Sivan’s first album, Blue Neighbourhood. Released in 2015, the album has received a lot of praise, but is it deserved? Let’s find out.
The first thing that I realized while listening to these songs is that this is not like most pop albums. While many modern pop acts strive to be catchy and fun above all else, Blue Neighbourhood is incredibly deep and personal, tackling some pretty heavy issues and bearing a mostly melancholic tone throughout the whole album. It comes as no surprise that these songs are based on Sivan’s own life and experiences, primarily as it comes to being a homosexual young man, and it is his connection to the material (as well as some brilliant writing) that really hooked me in a way pop albums (hell, albums in general) cannot these days.
I read a review recently suggesting that one possible criticism of this album is that “all of these songs are break-up songs” but I just don’t believe that’s the case at all. These songs tell a story that carries throughout the songs, with some connecting in more obvious ways and some in more subtle ones. One of the running themes is that of forbidden love, and the first track, called “Wild,” talks about that in a way that is both fun to listen to yet slightly sad. Sivan actually made three music videos, dubbed the “Blue Neighbourhood Trilogy,” one with this song, another with “Fools,” and one with “Talk Me Down,” which all tell one story, and they’re incredibly beautiful videos that I’ll share in this article.
One of the things that most impressed me about the love songs is how much they break the mold of what we know to be love songs. They’re not hollow, empty tracks just meant to make you feel good, they have real substance and cause you to really ponder their meanings. The most traditional love song on this album is “for him.,” which was actually written for someone in Sivan’s life, so I let it slide. On a first listen it sounds a little underwhelming, but with that context (as well as the overarching themes of the album) it becomes much better and a lot more enjoyable to listen to. Besides this one song, though, love is treated with either unthinking passion, extreme cynicism, or great thoughtfulness, which are reflected in the way these songs sound (which I’ll get to in a minute).
The other primary narrative running through this album is the impact that fame has had on Troye’s life, and how it has caused him to look back on his previous life in a small Australian town. While “Cool” plays on the themes of stardom in a very showy (yet ultimately cynical and sarcastic) “look at how famous I am” way, others show how much the distance has hurt him. “Suburbia” is definitely a love letter to his hometown, while “Ease” explores how much he misses his family and friends and the toll loneliness has taken on him. My favorite of the more personal songs is definitely “Heaven,” which also stars singer Betty Who. In it, Troye wrestles with the idea of faith and spirituality, a world where he doesn’t feel welcome as a gay man. As a person of faith myself it’s incredibly heartbreaking to hear this and feel like my community has failed him and others like him, but I feel like that was one of the things he was going for, and it adds a new layer to this already beautiful song.
As I mentioned earlier, the way the themes are handled in the songs are reflected in how the songs sound. In “Fools,” Troye’s lyrics indicate that a harsh reality check has entered his view of love, but that he still believes he can achieve his romantic dreams. The song appropriately maintains a dream-like sound, but one that seems harsher than most. Meanwhile, the beat in “DKLA” (which features rapper Tkay Maidza) is more solemn and calm, reflecting the more serious and sad nature of the lyrics. “Bite” is backed by a trance-y beat that seems both sensual and reserved at the same time, which makes sense given the experience he's pulling from. I applaud him and his team for their brilliance in crafting this music to make it all fit and creating some honest-to-God interesting pop music. I also hesitate to tell you the meanings behind any more of these songs, because I think the lyrics and arrangements are enough for you to form your own ideas rather than telling you what he really thought.
I'd actually like to discuss the sound of the album here a bit more, because I think it's pretty diverse for your average pop album. Like I said with "Fools," there's elements of trance music, several songs contain EDM-style beats, and even some sound like hip hop songs, like "Cool." One really interesting one for me was "for him.," which sounds like a twenty-one pilots song. Even within the songs that have a similar sound there's a variety of them, like hip hop-sounding songs "The Quiet" and "Ease" sounding worlds apart almost. I would be very curious to see how Sivan and his crew decided upon the construction of these songs and why they chose what they did.
Despite the difference in construction, the songs all carry at least a hint of darkness in them, with perhaps the darkest being “Talk Me Down,” which I don’t think I should have to describe given what the title is. The themes of forbidden love, heartbreak, and loneliness aren’t ones that any honest artist can just drown out with happy music if they want to be real with the audience, and Sivan makes sure that we remember this in each song. While it’s understandable for a song like “Lost Boy,” which is a breakup song, to be a little darker, even the more fun songs like “Youth” (which I’ll talk about in a little bit) and “Cool” carry this as well in more subtle ways. Sometimes I dislike overbearing “do you get it?” messages in music like this, but I think the album straddles the line enough that you can enjoy the songs and ponder their meanings without being overwhelmed by them.
I only have a few small complaints with this album, with the first being that “Youth” just doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the songs. It’s a great song that has the depth, the great sound and Sivan’s great vocals (one friend of mine compared him to ZAYN, which I can totally see), but it just feels out of place compared to the other songs. Each of the others feel so well-crafted and meant to be together, kind of like a puzzle, but “Youth” is the one that feels like it should have been on a different album. That’s not a slight on the song at all, it’s just that I wish it had kept with the spirit of the rest of the tracklist. There are a few other things, with Tkay Maidza’s rapping being one of them, that I didn’t like, but these are all comparatively small complaints.
Blue Neighbourhood is an incredibly well-made piece of music and a promising start to a young career. Troye Sivan clearly has the talent, both vocally and lyrically, to be a great pop musician, and I hope that he carries on with his more personal and thought-provoking track rather than giving into the business and just churning out more vapid entertainment. Just like I said with Avicii’s album Stories, I think Blue Neighbhourhood is a revitalization for pop music and shows the potential that the genre has, something that I hope more pop artists learn from and try to apply to their own songs in the future. I highly recommend this album to anyone who loves music, but especially for someone who wants to see what great pop music sounds like.
My Top 3:
- Talk Me Down
- Wild
- Heaven (ft. Betty Who)
My Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Blue Neighbourhood is on sale now.
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