Troye Sivan

Bloom

Making perfect pop isn’t easy, but Troye Sivan is a star who’s done his homework. With one foot in pop’s past and another in its present, Bloom is a record that could turn its considerate maker into one of mainstream music’s most revered and fascinating talents.

Bloom is an exceptional pop album, but maybe more importantly it’s a beacon for queer people who struggle to reconcile our neuroses – societal and personal – with our potential for joy and love.

Sivan may indeed only be 23 and while he might not be a gay icon just yet, records like Bloom which clearly and proudly sing about same sex relationships while sounding shiny and polished in all the right places, will certainly help him get there.

Bloom is a fun record, dreamy and vulnerable and urgently horny.

On Bloom, Sivan’s sophomore album, he adds a touch more vigor and nuance to the loveliest qualities of his debut album Blue Neighbourhood.

The results are characterful. Bloom is done and dusted in 35 crisp minutes – a time at which some pop albums are reaching their mid-point – and feels like a coherent, artist-led album rather than a bet-spreading collection of songs designed to hit every popular musical base.

At a taut ten tracks, Bloom is an unambiguous statement from Sivan, clear in its intent to celebrate the highs and lows of queer love through the eyes of a proud pop star in the making.

Bloom is a bare-faced record, thrillingly honest and defiantly queer, proving Sivan is one of pop’s most essential voices.

Bloom isn’t as consistent or engaging a musical experience as Sweetener, but it still feels meaningful.

Bloom is a deeply romantic, deeply personal collection of songs that establishes Sivan as a fiercely talented pop chameleon.

Bloom may be less ambitious than its predecessor, but it frequently manages to do more with less.

Hopefully, Bloom will help clear a space on the charts for carnal, queer music. But it’s easy to wish it were revolutionary for more than simply existing.

It may not be the queer masterpiece that some were expecting, but in this day and age, Troye Sivan's Bloom proves that gay people need not rely on metaphors or "hints" to get their stories across and be accepted by the masses.