Category: Music

This winter break I became obsessed with YouTube for a variety of reasons. Too much time on my hands and a desire to learn about myself being possibly the primary ones. In doing so, I discovered the YouTube star and all-around talent Troye Sivan. Finding myself eager to support him in his endeavors outside of YouTube, I used a Target gift card I received for Christmas to purchase the Deluxe, Target edition of Blue Neighborhood.
Which has been in my CD player in my car ever since.
Needless to say this is a decision I do not regret.
So I thought I would review a few of the reasons as to why I have been addicted to this album for two months.
One of those reasons is simply I think it is good music. Overall, the album has a coherent sound. The songs move from one to the next seamlessly, flowing at a generally upbeat pace with soothing electronic waves overlaid. One might find this monotonous but Sivan injects enough variety, often with guest artists, to still make each song feel fresh and unique.
I could review the album song-by-song, but I’ll keep it to the highlights. A few of his songs have a tragic streak such as the poignant conclusion to the Blue Neighborhood trilogy, Talk Me Down. But others such as Bite and Wild, are fun and exhibit the artist’s youth (not to mention his song, Youth).
To me the pinnacle of the album is Heaven featuring Betty Who. The lyrics reflect a personal tension I’ve felt as a man trying to navigate the bounds of my identity as a gay Christian.
“All my time is wasted/Feeling like my heart’s mistaken, oh/So if I’m losing a piece of me/Maybe I don’t want heaven?”
And it is these lyrics and Troye’s insistence throughout the album to use the pronouns that he identifies with that I most appreciate about the album. It would be easy for a young, gay artist to minimize that part of his identity. Going back to my last post, representation is important. Seeing Troye representing a part of my identity that isn’t usually prominent in mainstream media is refreshing. It gives me confidence in myself. I feel more comfortable in my identity as a result.
I think the next post I do should be more “academic” in nature. So I will either attempt to summarize and review a piece of research or present a piece of my own research.