Troye Sivan started out as a boy filming YouTube videos in his Perth bedroom; then, against considerable historical precedent, he became better known for his music. More than a decade later, he’s got enough reach for SNL to do a skit about his underwear, but a surprising amount of his catalogue still feels under-explored. With his fourth album She’s the Best arriving October 9, now’s the time to revisit some of Troye’s buried gems before the pile gets any bigger.
"BITE" (2015)
If this doesn’t sound like anything special, rewind to 2015. Some guy you might’ve heard of from YouTube drops his debut album, and Track 2 feels like you’ve wandered into an expensive sex dungeon.
“BITE” is unusually atmospheric and conceptual. Every element of the song, from its prowling pace and hypnotic repetition to its shadowy production and hushed, tentative vocal, participates in its eroticism. And not every synth from this era needs to be heard today, but these have somehow avoided the indignity of becoming "very 2015".
"STUD" (2020)
In "STUD", it is difficult to tell where the crush ends and the insecurity begins. The lust is intense, but so is the realization that his type may double as an inventory of his perceived shortcomings.
Troye wants, but he also winces, unable to admire without comparing. While the "stud" is a vision of conventional masculinity, Troye’s performance stays soft, almost fragile. Meanwhile, the production makes several unexpected sidesteps. Some feel like opening the wrong door at the club and realizing everyone here is having a way better time; others like your favorite song just cut out and you’ve been slammed back into your own head. But the shifts aren’t weirdness for weirdness’s sake. The song swells when Troye gives himself over to desire, then retreats as self-consciousness creeps back in.
"could cry just thinkin about you (Full Version)" (2021)
Troye’s taste for unusual soundscapes can sometimes make you forget how strong his songwriting instincts are. "Could cry just thinkin about you" captures that stage of heartbreak where nothing new is happening but your mind keeps finding its way back into the same emotional gutter.
Where "BITE" and "STUD" turn an emotion (or several of them) into a world, this one makes the emotion feel like the thing left behind when the world disappears. It’s a remarkably straightforward ballad — guitar, longing, regret, the works — yet it still sits somewhere between singer-songwriter confession and art-pop deterioration. The soundscape grows more elaborate around its simple foundation without ever swallowing the writing underneath it.
"In My Room" (2023)
"In My Room" feels a bit like Troye discovered a new room in his wheelhouse and immediately knew what color to paint it. It’s the rare pop collaboration where nobody sounds like they were added during a marketing meeting.
Troye’s lighter delivery set against Guitarricadelafuente’s rougher, earthier voice creates a beautiful contrast. Though there are textures galore, it never sounds crowded and nothing screams for your attention. The back-and-forth feels conversational, and the song is sexy in a way that feels lived-in rather than performed. That ease is probably the best evidence of how carefully the song was put together.
"Silly" (2023)
So much dance-pop feels like it comes from the perspective of the stage. "Silly" places you on the floor.
Little vocal snippets and production flourishes drift in and out of focus like fragments you’d catch moving through a crowded room or spinning on a dance floor, reproducing the sensory experience of nightlife (instead of observing it from behind the velvet rope). Here, Troye’s voice becomes part of the atmosphere as much as any synth. He slips between a falsetto so airy it nearly dissolves into the track and a fuller register that pulls him back into focus. This song absolutely rewards spending too much money on your headphones.
After more than a decade, the easiest thing to predict about Troye Sivan is that the next song won’t sound like the last one, but he doesn’t really pivot so much as expand. His new single "She’s the Best" stretches his sound in yet another direction while retaining the same instincts for immersive atmosphere, intimate sensuality, and obsessive attention to texture. Troye’s identity is additive rather than corrective, becoming harder to categorize even as it grows easier to recognize. The music can get stranger, sadder, softer, sexier, or sweatier and still feel more unmistakably Troye Sivan each time.
