Heading ‘Home’
Troye Sivan
Have you had your fill of Troye Sivan after his gorgeous sophomore collection “Bloom” came out in 2018? If the answer is no, brace yourself for another groove-driven treat with the release of his heady new single “Take Yourself Home,” which will be featured in his upcoming third album “TS3*.”
But the 24-year-old singer-actor is not just another one-off wonder, and his inventive music no fluke. And this is the reason why his euphoric synthpop bop has been getting the attention of pop music sensations who wanted to collaborate with him, including Ariana Grande (“Dance to This”), Lauv (“I’m So Tired”), Charli XCX (“1999”), Zedd (“Papercut”), Martin Garrix (“There for You”) and, of course, Taylor Swift.
If tracks like “Youth,” “Happy Little Pill,” “Talk Me Down” and the eerie “Revelation” (from “Boy Erased”) resonate with you, “Take Yourself Home” gives music buffs another great excuse to get on the Troye Sivan bandwagon—and a logical idea why his fanbase continues to expand.
Following his sexual “emancipation” in 2013, Troye has ceased to be persnickety about the idea of taking risks, whether personally or musically. After all, at the tender age of 17, he risked losing a career-boosting record deal and millions of teenage fans on his YouTube channel by busting out of the closet. “It [coming out] was a terrifying decision,” he admitted in an interview with TV host Andrew Denton. “But what’s the alternative? I could not stay in the closet any longer … it was suffocating!”That bold and daring “roll of the dice” has since handsomely paid off, as Troye croons with calming reassurance in “Take Yourself Home”: Talk to me/ There’s nothing that can’t be fixed with some honesty/ And how it got this dark is just beyond me/ Happiness is right where you lost it/ When you took the bet/ Counting all the losses that you can’t collect.
The guy knows where of he speaks, to say the least.
But even if you let the potent power of Troye’s introspective lyrics take the backseat, the African-born Australian singer-songwriter can still craft melodies that defy categorization. In “Take Yourself Home’s” case, it begins with a moody but not-quite-glum Sufjan Stevens-channeling start that gets a wrap-up sputter-and-spark from the pounding fusion of house and tropical music.
Part of the lure is his melancholy reflections about identity and self-discovery.
“The song is kind of a pep talk for yourself and the place you’re from. [It’s about] grappling with your place in the world,” Troye muses as he explains why it’s become one of his all-time favorite compositions. “I write these songs as a diary entry. Then, as life, places and relationships change, songs can take on an entirely new meaning. Clearly, that has happened for this song with what is going on in the world now.”
In the caption that accompanies the music video of “Take Yourself Home” on Instagram, Troye further explains to his 11.1 million followers, “This was a really scary moment for me—being this honest with myself about my happiness and my life and the way all the pieces fit together, or don’t.
“Just like a moment of, ‘Hey, dude. What are you doing? This isn’t working anymore. Go home. Be with your family. Dance. Write music. Be with your friends who have known you since you were 2. Reevaluate.“Naturally, we wrote a sad dance track with a ‘housey’ outro… Hope it brings you some of the joy and relief it brought me during these crazy times.”
Spot on, Troye.
