Troye Sivan – Blue Neighbourhood (Vinyl 2LP)

Welcome to Blue Neighbourhood, the debut full-length album from the international chart-topping Australian artist, Troye Sivan. “It’s all autobiographical,” says Troye. “It takes place in both the suburbs of Perth where I’ve grown up, which I consider to be my blue neighbourhood, but then also in this fast-paced, crazy, whirlwind life that I’m now living in hotel rooms and planes. And it takes place inside the mind of a 20-year-old kid. I wanted to make sure that youthfulness was there; I worked mostly with really, really young people on this record.”

Fans of Troye’s recent Wild mini-album, a certified worldwide pop chart phenomenon in its own right, will have a strong sense of the cutting-edge sonic soundscape that awaits here – the six songs from Wild serve as act one on this expanded electronica opera that is Blue Neighbourhood. It’s a curiously exotic, brooding-mystical-modernistic world, at once capturing-capitulating-celebrating the spirit-anxiety-joy-fears of youth. At its core is the pure, honest, fragile, nuanced, exquisite, anxious, aching, soulful vocal stylings of Troye Sivan. There are many around the world who’ve already pinned this unique sound as the voice of a generation.

Troye chose to work primarily with the same tight-knit clique that helped him create his Trxye EP. So once again, Troye’s key partner in the new songs is the gifted young Sydney-based songstress Alex Hope who is credited with co-writing half of Blue Neighbourhood, including the exhilarating introductory tracks “Wild,” “Fools” and “DKLA” – three instant anthems. Much of the remainder of Blue Neighbourhood was written in collaboration with another trio of young pop composers in Bram Inscore, Brett McLaughlin and Allie X. Together, they’ve produced some of the most intimate moments on Blue Neighbourhood, including the aching “Lost Boy,” “Talk Me Down” and the unabashed love song, “For Him.” Other one-off collaborations also bring different shades and depth to the record, including the understated moody appearance by New Zealand’s Broods on “Ease,” Tkay Maidza’s gentle rap on “DKLA” and a special guest vocal appearance by Alex Hope on “Blue.”

Blue Neighbourhood is a musical trip full of twists and turns, cutting-edge production, sparse booming beats, majestic flourishes and beautiful modern poetry. Sivan has built an intoxicating mini-universe of high emotion, exuberance and fragility. It’s a gleaming statement in state-of-the-art pop, an international soundtrack for today. Troye Sivan is an artist who has fulfilled a lifetime of preparation and potential to produce a landmark work.

1. Wild
2. Bite
3. Fools
4. Ease (feat. Broods)
5. The Quiet
6. DKLA (feat. Tray Maidza)
7. Talk Me Down
8. Cool
9. Heaven (feat. Betty Who)
10. Youth
11. Lost Boy
12. For Him (feat. Allday)
13. Suburbia
14. Too Good
15. Blue (feat. Alex Hope)
16. Wild (XXYYXX Remix)