Troye Sivan Blooms In Bloom

Troye Sivan Blooms in Bloom

His latest album shares gay experiences with listeners.

By JT Lucas

Bloom, the sophomore offering of power-twink Troye Sivan, is a touching look at the adventures of a young man experiencing the emotions and milestones that shape the gay male experience. Clocking in at under 37 minutes, he covers a wide spectrum of experiences that most can universally relate to: being in love, losing your virginity, discovering that you’ve fallen out of love, writing that spiteful note to the guy who hurt you and navigating Grindr for the first time.

The opening track, “Seventeen,” explores Sivan’s first sexual experience. For the sake of morality, we do hope that the older gentleman in the song was maybe 19 or 20, but regardless, Sivan portrays a boyish arrogance (“got something here to lose that I know you wanna take from me”) that perfectly captures the spirit of courtship at that age. He revisits losing his virginity in title track, “Bloom,” where he runs the whole gamut of the feelings associated in one’s first time — excitement, fear, horticulture and so on. While some of the metaphors seem a little flowery, there’s an infectious Human League-style vibe to it that you can’t help but jam to.

But sex isn’t everything in Bloom. In “Plum” is the heartbreaking realization that the one you’re laying next to isn’t the one you’re ultimately supposed to be with. “The Good Side” comes to terms with the (thankfully amicable) end of a serious relationship. There are also songs about how cool it is to be in love (“My! My! My!” and “Dance to This”) — and my personal favorite, “Lucky Strike,” is a song about falling for that chain-smoking bad boy.

The insidious magic of Bloom is that it’s just so extremely relatable. Gay, straight and nonconforming alike can remember times that they’ve felt these same feelings portrayed throughout the album. Plus the fact that Sivan’s voice is as smooth as your first sip of coffee in the morning makes each song versatile enough to weave into the adult contemporary soundscape, sharing the gay experience with a wide range of listeners. For that listener who may not have much understanding of gay culture, Bloom teaches that we are all very alike when it comes to love and lust.

JT Lucas is a Columbus-based music enthusiast, frequent concert-goer and a Carly Rae Jepsen superfan.