South-African born Troye Sivan is to music, what Zoella is to writing: a hugely successful YouTube star on the brink of breaking into mainstream culture. So far he’s predominantly popular with only a certain demographic, but millions of followers can’t be wrong can they?
No, they most certainly are not. Ever since Troye released
his first EP ‘TRYXE’ last year and its excellent single Happy Little Pill, it’s been clear that he’s set for pop stardom. ‘WILD’
only affirms this.
Warm synths, yearning melodies and poignant lyrics are the
order of the day. But what makes this collection of songs special is the effortlessness
and polish. Take lead single and title track WILD (don’t ask me why everything is in caps): it’s a track based
on the initial rush of a relationship and the production follows suit, with a
haze of synth pads, children chanting and a gradually escalating melody, but it’s
all tinged with a sense of gloomy sadness. There’s a personal touch to the
songwriting that makes it wholly relatable – and not just for teenage fans.
Follow-up song BITE (chill
out Troye) is a menacing track that he wrote from fear of visiting his first
gay club (“please don’t bite”); FOOLS (enough
now) is an intoxicating whir of a track; THE
QUIET (yes we get the idea Troye) begins gently enough with organ melodies,
but soon expands into fizzing synths to match its core melancholic lyric “anything
hurts less than the quiet”. Then there’s EASE
(oh come on now) and DKLA (stop
shouting, please) – the former featuring vocals from New Zealand’s brooding
Broods, the latter featuring a rap from Tkay Maidza. Both continue the dark,
gloomy aesthetic, although Troye is best on his own.
Yet these tracks also highlight the talents of other up-and-coming
artists. Troye has worked with the likes of Allie X and Alex Hope on the
songwriting, and with a full length album potentially on the way soon bringing
opportunity to collaborate with more young musicians on the rise, he is slowly
collating a musical army to take over your ears. Resistance is futile.
4/5
Listen: ‘WILD’ is available now.
