Troye Sivan - Dance to This - Single [Review]

Troye Sivan's song "Dance to This" is the latest (and fourth) single released from his sophomore studio album Bloom, set to be released on August 31, 2018. When Sivan released the first single from the album - titled "My My My!" (which I reviewed here) - I wasn't all that impressed, considering it to be one of the weakest songs of his career so far, and I think that I like "Dance to This" even less. "Dance to This" features guest vocalist Ariana Grande, and I should offer the disclaimer that I have never really been much of a fan of Ariana Grande, which could be affecting my opinion of the song a bit. The song opens with sultry and somewhat twangy synth (which is the most interesting part of the song) repeated throughout the song. The verses, which are rather dull melodically (as is the chorus), are backed by a generic drum machine, and even the track's lyrics register to me as generic and uninteresting. The song seems to be from the perspective of a couple (or at least two people who are just falling for each other) who has grown tired of partying and clubbing and wants to go home and dance together privately. (Dancing being used as a euphemism for sex is quite honestly overworked and exhausted.) As for Grande being featured, I, as I said, am not very enthusiastic about it, and that is for two reasons: (1) I, as previously stated, am not really a fan, and (2) this kind of feels like the time when Sivan released an updated version of his song "WILD" with guest vocalist Alessia Cara, which, given the fact that Cara is female, kind of erased the gay identity of the song. It has been reported that Bloom will express Sivan's identity as a young gay man very poignantly, with the album being a lot more sexual in nature than Blue Neighbourhood, so sharing a sexual track with a female vocalist doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me; it seems to be playing it safe. While I am undoubtedly looking forward to the album being released, my hope is that "Dance to This" is not a sign of what to expect from the songs that we haven't yet heard, as I would definitely refer to it as the weakest song of his career thus far. It is simply flat and generic, which is really unfortunate considering the fact that the indie sound on Blue Neighbourhood is anything but.