Marceline Lee | Illustration Editor

Who is she? She has a great smile. She has a rouged cheek and a blush lip. She has a cum stain on her dress. She is the subject of “She’s the Best,” the lead single to Troye Sivan’s new album of the same name. “Boys have come and gone,” Sivan wrote about the song. “But I have always, always had my girls.” 

It’s a far cry from the themes Sivan has spent his career exploring: queerness, vulnerability, loneliness, and sex, sex, sex. On his last album cover, Sivan appears gleefully smiling between the thighs of a naked man. This cover doesn’t feature him at all; instead, it has a topless woman smoking in front of a bridge. It gives the impression that, for the first time, Sivan might be decentering the themes that have made his artistic voice so distinctive in favor of a new, unexplored idea.

But for an album called “She’s the Best,” she only appears in glimpses outside the title track. Madonna pops up twice, in an interpolation on “Party” and in the warbling synth of “Canada Dry,” which seems to be directly ripped from “Impressive Instant.” The talk-sung vocals of the title track are eerily similar to much of bestie and SWEAT Tour co-headliner Charli XCX’s “Music, Fashion, Film.” His “The Idol” comrade Lily-Rose Depp appears on “Lost Time” to speak a bit of French. And… that’s it. Women may be his lifeblood and described inspiration, but men, desire, and the dance floor are still his natural habitats.

“She’s the Best” is ultimately a prototypical Troye Sivan album: horny and hedonistic. His intentions are plainly stated: He wants to bump music until “the whole block starts to freak.” He wants to “play [with] any boy, any girl.” And, of course, he wants to party — in the bush, at the club, at the restaurant, at his house, under the bridge, in the day, on the way to the party at the park, etc.

After “She’s the Best,” the album quickly veers into sweat and synths. “Party” is an undeniably catchy club anthem, the silliness of which overshadows the potentially lazy lyrics. It’s almost a practice in hypnotism — one has no desire other than to follow Sivan from party to party. “She’s the Best” has no shortage of the familiar, upbeat electronic tracks that make listeners want to abandon all responsibility and head to the dance floor. “Canada Dry” is sexy and demands to be experienced with a dance partner, with Sivan telling his own, “Pull me closer, now we’re getting this right / And I wanna sip your body ’til it’s Canada Dry.” 

After the ’90s glitch-hop-inspired track, “I Do This for You,” the party starts to wear off and Sivan gives listeners a peek behind the veil, showing us what lies underneath. He’s honest about his desire for love, connection, and community. On “Le Boy,” he longs for his soulmate who has yet to show up, and he divulges pleasuring himself to the thought of a former lover on “Embarrassingly.” He even admits, “And I don’t want drinks, I don’t wanna go out / I just want you in my really nice house,” on “Sex Star.” It is in these moments, when Sivan is honest about his yearning for a lasting love, that the album is most compelling.

Not only are these tracks distinct in their message, but they also stand out sonically from the rest of the album. The dance anthems of the album are crowded with throbbing bass and dynamic rhythms, but these middle tracks are stripped down a bit. The instrumentals are simpler and the production more gentle, allowing for Sivan’s vocals and candid emotions to take center stage. 

“Troye Meets World” pauses the introspection with a potpourri of sparkly synths, distorted vocals, saxophone, and flute. The track is a wide-eyed, ecstatic introduction to the groove: “Music meet body, body meet music.” But Sivan knows that ultimately, drinks run dry, people tire, and the party doesn’t last. The three closing tracks trade sticky bass for muddled strings and introspective soundscapes, each imagining a version of the lasting love Sivan yearns for. “Gone are the days of waiting for pleasure,” he sings on “FF.” “Me and my baby,” he sings, “Are f*cking forever.” It’s the emotional core of the album — after the party, after the dancing and worldly pleasure, Troye wants someone to spend eternity with. “She’s the Best” proves that Sivan knows how to start the party, but is even better at pulling at your heartstrings in the middle of one.