Troye Sivan's 'Bloom' and the Rejuvenating Power of Queer Love

Troye Sivan's second studio album Bloom drops this week, and the most obvious difference between this record and his first project Blue Neighbourhood is clear... 

He's in love. 

The singles make it plain. In the anthemic "My My My," Sivan sensually asks his partner to let go of his inhibitions and give himself over to their sparks. In the mellow "Dance to This," featuring the one and only Ariana Grande, Sivan favors staying home with his boo over a hectic night out. His latest single and title track, "Bloom," is about opening up to someone you love, perhaps literally as many have dubbed it a "bottoming anthem."

Between the album's funky guitar riffs, dazzling synths, and the rose-colored melodrama of it all, you can't help but get up and groove like you're in a John Hughes film.

"Some of my favorite kinds of pop is '80s pop," Sivan told PRIDE. "That music just feels really timeless. I think it was a great time for pop music. I'm trying to explore that in my own music."

So what's changed in the past three years since his debut album? 

"I came out and everything and then once I kind of got that out of the way, I just completely realigned and focused on what I always wanted since I was a little kid," explained Sivan. "I've always wanted to be a singer. I've always wanted to be happy. I loved the idea of being in a relationship."

Slivers of Sivan's two-year relationship with Jacob Bixenman are peppered throughout Bloom. "Heavenly Way To Die," the album's eighth track, is a call back to The Smiths' 1986 hit, "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out." Sivan says the song came on when he was on a road trip (with his boyfriend? Neither confirmed or denied) and that phrase jumped out at him.

"I've always had this goal of writing someone's wedding song one day. I was kind of waiting for my emotions to be potent enough to crank that out. I really just wanted to write a letter to myself and my relationship, as it currently stands, but also a letter to myself in the future. There's really something about revisiting that song when we're older... It just feels like a sweet idea and something I really hope happens one day. I kinda just wanted to write this timeless love song."

Then there's "Plum," in which Sivan is so infatuated that he can't sleep at night for running his fingers through his lover's hair. At the time of the interview, Sivan said it's his favorite song on the album.

"That song has kind of snuck up on me a little bit. I knew that I loved it when I wrote it. It wasn't a single and it was just one of the tracks on the album in my head, but then the more that I listen to it, I just love it. When I speak to people who have a heard the album, a lot of them mention it to me and it makes me really, really happy."

If Blue Neighbourhood was Sivan figuring out who he was, Bloom is confident and unapologetic. Sivan loves a boy and he's shouting it from the rooftops (quite literally in "Lucky Strike"). That freedom has made him so happy, so carefree that he can't be contained, that just being within earshot of his fairytale makes you feel like jumping head over heels in love with someone.

That's exactly what Sivan wants listeners to feel. "I hope people listen to the album, and be like, 'Holy shit, I can do literally anything regardless of who I am or because of who I am. I can do anything in life.' I hope that's what people take."

That's why Bloom feels so refreshing. When LGBTQ stories get the chance to be told, so often are they unrequited tragedies, ballads of loneliness and desperation. Sivan makes us feel like our own great queer love story is not only something we deserve, but is lurking just around the corner. 

That feeling alone just makes you want to dance. 

Bloom drops Friday.