This year (2018) seems to be dream pop musician Troye Sivan's year. At the dawn of the new year, he has already spawned two new singles - "My My My!" and "The Good Side," - from his upcoming (although still currently untitled) sophomore album, the follow-up to his 2015 debut album Blue Neighbourhood. "The Good Side," as I will discuss in more detail, is quite possibly the most beautiful song that he has ever released, but "My My My!" honestly disappointed me when I first listened to it, and even now, weeks after its release, I still consider it one of the weakest songs of his career so far. More upbeat and more playful than most of the material found on Blue Neighbourhood (which is, overall, a pretty melancholy album), the song starts with electronically manipulated vocals which then move into an atmospheric although somewhat clubby beat which is at its most ferocious during the song's chorus. Because of the breathy way that Sivan sings the song's verses, the song also has a soulful and almost R&B vibe to it, and it's lyrically about the sexual excitement of a new relationship. (This is something to which most of us can probably relate - that blissful honeymoon feeling when we first start getting to know and/or dating a partner and how that's when sexual encounters tend to be the most exciting.) I just don't feel that the song accomplishes much, neither melodically nor lyrically. It is a pretty substandard pop song that I would more so expect from someone like Justin Bieber, with a flat chorus that feels like something that you would write to a crush on a folded up note in middle school. ("Oh, my my my! I die every night with you," Sivan sings in barely fluctuating notes. "Oh, my my my! Living for your every move.") That could, of course, be the point - that that magical feeling that we tend to feel at the beginning of a new relationship is similar to the magical butterflies that we feel in our stomachs when we are crushing on someone in middle school. The song is thematically somewhat like Blue Neighbourhood's lead single "WILD," with the notable exception of "WILD" being melodically and lyrically more interesting than "My My My!" is.
The second single to be released so far from Sivan's sophomore album is titled "The Good Side," and after feeling rather disappointed by "My My My!," I hoped that this one would be better once he announced the title. This time, I was not disappointed, as "The Good Side" is easily one of the most beautiful songs that he has released thus far. It is much slower and more downbeat than "My My My!," with an acoustic and somewhat folky Simon and Garfunkel atmosphere to it. The melody is absolutely gorgeous and catchy, and the gentle rhythm of the softly strumming acoustic guitar will likely make you want to lightly tap your foot. I remember feeling surprised the very first time that I listened to the song, as the first five seconds of the song feature a harp being played unpredictably and all over the place, and I jokingly wondered to myself if I had accidentally selected a Björk track. The harp then intermittently returns throughout the song, and pop musician Allie X (with whom Sivan is close friends) is featured on background vocals. The song is lyrically raw and heartfelt, with Sivan addressing an ex boyfriend and apologizing for hurting him and being able to effortlessly move on with his life while the ex boyfriend suffered in pain. There is even a part of the song that most likely alludes to Blue Neighbourhood and its content: "I got the good side of you, sent it out into the blue. The people danced to the sound of your heart; the world sang along to it falling apart." The song is very special to me (and Sivan said that it means the world to him) because it has really helped me move past whatever lingering poison was left in my heart following my own breakup in 2014. I could easily imagine the song being addressed to me from the perspective of my ex boyfriend, and that was surprisingly very therapeutic. Interestingly, one of the new songs is clubby and upbeat while the other acoustic and downbeat, and one is about the excitement of a new relationship while the other about an old relationship having come to an end. It seems like the two songs are meant to be seen as a yin and yang.
