Troye Sivan, Something To Give Each Other | Album Review 💿

After a five-year-hiatus between studio albums, Troye Sivan makes a marvelous return with his brief but potent third album, Something To Give Each Other. 

The success that 🎙 Troye Sivan has experienced is #AMAZING. Major label out 🏳️‍🌈 pop stars still remain a rarity (even though that shouldn’t be the case 😏). Despite the odds being stacked against, the handsome, talented South African-Australian musician has a platinum album, and multiple gold and platinum singles under his belt 💪.

Fans had to wait an excruciating five years between the release of his 2018 sophomore album, 💿 Bloom, and his third LP, 💿 Something To Give Each Other, released October 13, 2023. To be fair, Sivan did drop an 💿 EP, and multiple singles.  Still, there’s nothing like a full-length album, and Something To Give Each Other proves to be a stellar one from start to finish.  Ask yourself, can you feel the rush?

“Rush”

“I feel the rush / Addicted to your touch / Oh, I feel the rush / It’s so good, it’s so good.” Troye Sivan embraces and doubles down on his sexuality on club-infused bop, 🤩 🎵 “Rush”. The opener and lead single from Something To Give Each Other is fabulous and gay AF (Note: the music video 🎶 📼 fully confirms the gayness 🌈).  Still, even if Sivan had denied us a visual of appetizing shirtless men and sexual liberation, the sound of the record is giving gay club.  This slick joint was produced by 🎛 Styalz Fuego, NOVODOR, and Zhone.  To some extent, this sound is a change of pace for Sivan. Lyrically and thematically, sex is written all over this record. “Trust the stimulation, don’t you let it break / Every stimulation, promise I can take,” Sivan sings in the first verse adding, “What you wanna give? Boy, you better show me what / You’ve been schemin’ up.” WOO 🥵 🥵 🥵! The heat continues in the second verse, where he asserts, “Pass your boy the heatwave,” adding, “Kiss it when you’re done, man, this shit is so much fun / Pocket rocket gun.” Clearly, while listening to 🎵 “Rush”, you should be somewhere where it’s okay if you get turned on 😈!

Appears in 🔻:

• Awesome Songs: July 2023
• Rush: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 59 (2023)

🤩 🎵 “What’s The Time Where You Are?” has a tough act to follow (🎵 “Rush” is the sugar honey iced tea after all) but keeps Something To Give Each Other on the up-and-up.  Things kick off with a fun intro with some f-bombs in both English and Spanish.  During that intro, the listener is introduced to the insane dance beat.  It’s safe to say, Troye keeps us on our feet 🕺 🪩! Besides the beat, the production is slick – sweet to the nth degree thanks to the ever-talented 🎛️ OZGO (Oscar Görres). A blast to listen, a sweet exchange via text inspired this bop.  The chorus, in all its catchy, tuneful glory, is the section to beat:

“Is what’s the time where you are, you are?

What’s the night like where you are, you are?

International straight shot to my heart

I’m right on top of this groove

God, I wish it was you.”

Ah, and did you catch the innuendo 😉?

“One Of Your Girls” 

🤩 🎵 “One Of Your Girls” caught everyone’s attention as the third single from Something to Give Each Other, coinciding with the album’s release.  The music video 🎶 📼 garnered plenty of attention, with its eye candy, namely a shirtless 🎭 Ross Lynch with his jeans unbuttoned 🥵 😍.  But there’s even more fierceness: Troye Sivan in drag. Oh, snap 🫰!  The visuals are stunning, but so is the song too.  As always, Troye gives us cool, expressive vocals. Melodically, this Sivan, Görres, and 🎼 ✍ Leland composition is tuneful, particularly – you guessed it – the chorus.  “Give me a call if you ever get lonely / I’ll be like one of your girls or your homies,” Sivan sings, continuing, “Say what you want, and I’ll keep a secret.” Ah, a discreet arrangement! Sexuality is complex, and “One Of Your Girls” does a masterful job of showing such a complex scenario.

“I’m all alone in my room / I’m just thinkin’ ‘bout you.” Yup, we’ve all been there, Troye! On 🎵 “In My Room,” the groove remains potent.  That said, this record brings some smooth R&B vibes into the mix. It also brings an assist from Spanish singer 🎙 Guitarricadelafuente, who certainly amplifies the sexiness with his vocals en español.  And to address the elephant in the room, yes, you want him, Guitarricadelafuente, in your room 😍!  This collaboration is amorous, enjoyable, and sounds fresh.  I particularly love the wordier lyrics from Sivan, which describe all these emotions his feeling as a result of that four-letter-word: love.

The freshness of Something To Give Each Other continues on the fifth track, 🤩 🎵 “Still Got It.”  What is the “it” that the handsome pop singer has “still got?” Well, he’s in his feels, triggered by an ex-: “I saw you at a party, said hello like an old colleague / Talked about the summer when we didn’t know each other.” Oh, snap 🫰!  Even more, oh snap arrives in the second verse: “You touch me in the back seat of the party bus on Tenth Street / Kinda confused me, both a couple drinks in too deep…” Regardless how you identify sexually, “Still Got It” is a record that’s easy to identify with. Anyone who’s experienced a relationship that has expired, yet finds feelings reignited upon seeing or interreacting with that person again, will feel this one.  Another bop, period.

“Can’t Go Back, Baby” 

“I wish you weren’t dead to me / So much to miss in you / More than just my enemy / You were my lover too.” Ooh-wee! Matters of the heart don’t end with 🎵 “Still Got It.” They bleed into the sixth track, 🎵 “Can’t Go Back, Baby.”  Troye seeks to rewind back, specifically “To the days when I thought I knew you.” Obviously, that’s impossible. Things ended badly it seems, as Sivan mentions his ex- leaving the hotel while he was performing on TV.  Even as the love pain stings, he recollects the good times had, specifically during the pre-choruses. As far as the sound, “Can’t Go Back, Baby” incorporates a sample: 🎵 “Back, Baby” by 🎙 Jessica Pratt.  It plays a key role in the song, bringing something different and again, refreshing to the table for Sivan.

“He’s got the personality not even gravity could ever hold him down,” Troye Sivan sings in the first verse of 🤩 🎵 “Got Me Started”, finishing it off, singing, “He’s got the sexuality of a man who can take a room and drown it out.” WOO! Sivan serves up a serious dose of sexiness 😈. He penned “Got Me Started” alongside 🎼 ✍ Leland, Tayla Parx, Styalz Fuego (Kaelyn Behr), Ian Kirkpatrick, Jack Glass, and Chris Stracey. “Got Me Started” commences with incredibly fresh, slick, dance production (Kirkpatrick).  I ❤️ the rhythmic synth, which appears at various times throughout the record.  As much ear candy as the backdrop provides, the star of the show is Troye, who delivers smooth, sexy vocals (“We’ve got that hot chemistry, yeah, you and me won’t make it out this house” 🍆). Besides his effort on vocals, the vocal production is awesome.  In the infectious chorus, his vocals are filled with effects, idiomatic of the dance/dance-pop style he embraces. Of course, the infectiousness comes from the memorable lyrics, including a naughty bomb 💣!

“You just got me started

And I don’t think I can stop it

And I don’t wanna go home alone, alright?

Oh, baby, baby

Boy, can I be honest?

Kinda miss usin’ my body

Fuck it up just like this party did tonight

Oh, baby, baby.”

Another selling point is the warmth of the instrumental during the brief, contrasting bridge section, where he reuses the chorus lyric, “Boy, can I be honest.” Sivan brings the heat – NO 🚫 CAP 🧢!!!

“Silly”

On the eighth track from Something To Give Each Other, Troye Sivan gets 🎵 “Silly” – not like the aughts V.I.C. song tho! So, what exactly is this silliness that the South African Australian singer exhibits? Admittedly, he’s a “love junkie.” Silly exemplified! Sivan barely breaks a sweat while performing on this track, showing off a righteous falsetto, not to mention his rich, lower and mid register.  The vocal layering and vocal production truly help to shape this bop. Of course, the overall production (🎛 Ian Kirkpatrick,) shines, though with a chill, cooler aesthetic.  Perhaps “Silly” doesn’t outshine the top tier of this LP, but it’s another consistent, entertaining record. 

“I see love in every space / I see sex in every city, every town.” Word! 🤩 🎵 “Honey” arrives as the penultimate record on this brief affair. Another groovy gem, Troye Sivan keeps it honest and sexy AF 😈. There are many ear-catching lyrics, such as “I don’t pray a lot, God knows / But I’m callin’ in favors like I believe.” Woo 👏! Of course, the section to beat is the chorus, where he sings, “Give me the courage to say all the shit I mean, yeah / Give me a song to rock your body, a lucid dream, yeah /… Give me that honey 🍯.” So, basically, he’s Pooh? Got it! Kidding, of course 😜! To provide some context what Sivan is getting at, he told Apple Music about he was influenced by The Serenity Prayer on this song:

I love the idea of having these really strong feelings for someone and not knowing how to express them, and almost saying a prayer—even though I’m very irreligious.

“Boy, I wish you were the piece / To get me out the game.” Ah, Troye caps off Something To Give Each Other with 🎵 “How To Stay With You.” Once more, the vocals are sweet – expressive and ear-catching. The chorus is catchy, especially with that naughty bomb 💣 Sivan drops (“I’m a little bit fucked on this  / I’m a little bit out of time to spend with you”). Likewise, the production (OZGO and 🎛 A.G. Cook) is on-point, with it decadent pads and synths, and of course, the anchoring ⚓️ beat.  Like a couple of other tracks, there’s a stronger R&B influence compared to the singer’s previous work. One of the best features is the saxophone solo by 🎷Henki Skidu.

Final Thoughts 💭

Troye Sivan, please don’t make us wait another five years before you release your fourth studio album! 💿 Something To Give Each Other is terrific. Troye Sivan is able to convey the pains and pleasure of love (and sex) superbly.  His voice is amazing, the musical backdrops are lit 🔥, and the choruses are memorable – they stick like syrup… or honey 🍯! At 10 tracks and 33 minutes, Something To Give Each Other gives the listeners plenty to love and replay over and over.

🤩 Gems 💎: “Rush”, “What’s The Time Where You Are?”, “One Of Your Girls,” “Got Me Started” & “Honey”  

🎙 Troye Sivan • 💿 Something To Give Each Other • 🏷 Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd. • 🗓 10.13.23

[📷: Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd.]