Troye Sivan wants to make us dance

When Troye Sivan he was seven years old, his father taught him the serenity prayer. Two days before the release of his third studio album, Something to Give Each Other, the 28-year-old Australian pop star closes her eyes in a green room in Midtown Manhattan and delves into her memory to recite the familiar incipit: «God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to understand the difference.”

After the end of a relationship in 2019, that feeling planted the seed for “Honey,” a vibrant, honest song about communication that begins, “Give me the courage to say all the things I want to say.” It’s a plea that closes the album, but a wish that Sivan confidently presents throughout the album. “I think communication is the most important thing in the world,” she said recently over Zoom, “and it requires strength and vulnerability.” Sivan harnesses this ability like a superpower across all 10 tracks, baring it all and wrapping his raw emotions in synth- and club-ready anthems, all in the hope of healing.

But don’t mistake it for a breakup album. Sivan had already written that EP, In a Dream, three years ago. “He really was born from the ashes of that experience,” Sivan said of the genesis of Something to Give Each Other. “It was never about that experience, it was about what happened after.” That is, that Sivan has found himself again. He spent time at home in Melbourne (yes, that one), cycling around the city, showing up to parties alone and meeting people. I felt completely intoxicated by the world again,” he said of life after Covid-19. “I just wanted to be everywhere and see the world and meet as many people as possible and be on every dance floor. It was almost spiritual to live those experiences again, which turned out to be very stimulating.”

Experiences that reinvigorated Sivan and began to surprise him pleasantly, pushing him to write songs that were about hope rather than loneliness or desperation: “It all started to feel really joyful, it was about connecting with other people,” he said. Through this connection, Sivan also found community and embraced his queer community in a way that felt new to him. The album’s images, which unmistakably celebrate queer joy and authentic living, were a way for him to enjoy this liberation. On TikTok, she shared a story about the cover, in which Sivan, face squeezed between a man’s thighs, throws her head back smiling, lending levity to an overtly sexual image. Sivan admitted that she was aware of his smile, but after being caught in a moment of candor, that single frame became the cover image. “If vanity was my top priority, then I would have used the back cover, where I think I’m sexiest,” he joked. «But then I thought that authentic joy was depicted on my face… In short, when I saw the image, I understood that it had to be exactly that».

While Sivan has embraced this joy, his journey to love and self-discovery hasn’t been easy, complicated no doubt by his constant presence online. In July, when the first single from the new album, «Rush», was released, «that day I was glued to the screen for about twelve hours», he admitted. Having started his YouTube career as a teenager, Sivan knows how to navigate the Internet, but he knows it can be a minefield. When he released the music video for “Rush,” it went viral on TikTok, with thousands of users replicating the hypnotic choreography, but he also received criticism for the lack of body diversity in the video. “If there is criticism, I accept it and think about it,” Sivan said, explaining his reaction to that moment, “I want to try to understand it, decide how to react and make changes for the future.” In what seemed like digital whiplash, after sharing images of the tracklist, in which Sivan appears naked, he then received a wave of negative comments about his body. “I know it’s not healthy for me to read tweets about my body or people talking about my body,” Sivan said. «In cases like these, therefore, I try not to be influenced and to continue living as a human being, not as an online character».

However, not worried about taking up space, Sivan remains active online, posting the names of his crushes or contributing to silly TikTok trends: “I find people online really funny. I like trying to be part of that world,” she explained, “not worrying about what people think anymore and increasing my confidence as a person. It was an active decision to have a little more fun this time. I’m no longer afraid of what people will say. I just do what feels right and fun to me.”

Another thing that Sivan felt was particularly liberating was dance. In the music videos of «Got Me Started» and «Rush», debuts as a triple threat (Sivan participated in The Idol earlier this year), performing very technical choreography in a seemingly fluid and personal way. But it was a challenge, given that he had never danced professionally before: “It’s something that I probably always wanted to do and that I was really terrified of because I didn’t want to do it badly,” said Sivan, who stood also free from the pressure of having to hit every goal. “I’m just going to be myself, and even though sometimes it’s going to feel a little awkward or whatever, it can be really nice,” he said. «I never claimed to be Beyoncé or something like that, and that really liberated me and pushed me to explore and have fun.” His hope is that this newfound freedom can inspire others too. «Something to Give Each Other, as a macro concept, it really affects all of humanity,” Sivan explained. “I know it may seem like a haughty and exaggerated statement, but something about pop music and its power to bring people together resonated with me sweetly and nostalgically for the pop of a different era.” He mentioned artists such as Janet Jackson, who she saw in concert at the Hollywood Bowl before entering the studio, and the Spice Girls, whose girl-power movement was born out of bubblegum pop, as inspirations for what her music could be for others.

Shortly after the release of «Rush», Sivan was in Los Angeles and went out for a drive. Walking along Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, a strip lined with gay bars, he heard her song playing. His voice came out of the speakers and carried through the streets: “Pass your boy the heat wave, recreate the sun / Take me to the feeling, boy, you know what it is.” The bond he desired and celebrated in his upcoming album has come to fruition in the form of real bodies dancing and smiling. “It’s so surreal,” Sivan commented, smiling, “I really hope it makes people feel like they’re part of something, and at the same time makes them feel better when they’re alone.”

This was the power of a single song. With the arrival of the full album, out Friday, what more could you hope for? Sivan has set the scene: it’s hot in Australia and summer is upon us. “The thing that would make me feel special is seeing footage of a pool party with the song playing in the background and people living their lives to the beat of the music,” Sivan said. “I don’t think there is a better feeling.”