Only released two months ago, Troye Sivan’s latest album, Something To Give Each Other, has rightfully graced multiple Best Albums of the Year lists.
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Landing on VOGUE's "The Best Albums of 2023 (So Far)” as well as Rolling Stone's “The 100 Best Albums of 2023,” Sivan made waves with his album’s breakout single “One Of Your Girls,” and its alluring music video. Troye also recently became a first time GRAMMY nominee — receiving nods for Best Music Video and Best Pop Dance Recording.
Troye Sivan has truly had an incredible year. Lucky for us, he checked in with Audacy CHANNEL Q’s Corey Crockett to discuss all the success, that Timothée Chalamet SNL skit of course, his upcoming tour, and a whole lot more.
Going into this latest project with the intentions of creating something different, Troye spoke on how despite this divergence, he didn’t have any expectations that this album would stand out. “I think its because I’ve been doing this a really long time, this is my third album. I released my first one like eight years ago or something like that. I guess my top priority was just making something that I loved… and then seeing what was gonna happen,” Troye expressed. “I just sort of expected it to do the same thing that the other ones had done, and never predicted that it would go the way that it has.”
As for the accompanying music videos, Troye went about creating those the same way, with no expectations of them becoming, as Corey put it, “gay cannon 2023.”
“It was the same thing of just know, ’these are sick,’” Sivan said. “I loved them… we were just having the best time," Troye added of working with director Gordon von Steiner on the visuals for two-time GRAMMY nominated “Rush,” “Got Me Started,” and “One Of Your Girls.” The latter of which features a shirtless Ross Lynch, and we’re all better for it.
Calling the music video “gag-worthy,” and rightfully so, Corey was curious about how the concept and partnership, that had the internet gasping, came about.
“I knew that I needed… I had to cast someone in the video that sort of represented the guy that everyone wants. Y’know doesn’t matter if you're a guy or girl, you either want to be him or be with him, he just is like - the dude.” Noting “that very much is what ‘One Of Your Girls’ is about, kind of creating this character of this really enigmatic man that pulls you in, and everyone wants like a piece of him.”
“So when I was casting it, I was like, ‘who is that?,’ and I just feel like that’s Ross. He’s like the internet's boyfriend basically, I feel like. And yeah he was so perfect for it," Sivan said with a certain determination. “Hats off too him, he was so unbelievably down for whatever, he just showed up with the best attitude, he was having so much fun.”
Having recently announce EU/UK tour dates, Troye didn’t have an answer for when US dates would be announced, but did confirm that they will be coming. As of now he’s just focused on “building the show,” sharing “it’s gonna be epic,” and that he has a lot of “fun, big ideas to make the show feel like a party.” A party that no doubt will include some of his music video choreography that made enough impact to be parodied on Saturday Night Live.
“That was insane," Sivan said of that Timothée Chalamet hilarious SNL skit. “I was totally, totally gagged by that, because they asked if they could clear the song to use it for 'SNL' and of course we said yes, but I didn’t know whether the skit was gonna make it to air or what the skit was, or anything like that. So I watched it live, and every time they said my name, I would like jump. It was a really crazy surreal experience.” Also shouting out local Bangkok designer for that now iconic cutout tank.
Troye also discussed the honor of being named Australia’s GQ Man of the Year, and his acceptance speech about his relationship with masculinity and femininity, and what that meant for him to be able to share.
“I think my understanding of gender fluidity and self-expression has come such a long way, and especially in the last year, I think,” Troye expressed, going on to share the intentions of his speech. “I was trying to communicate to the audience that I was accepting the award in front of, but I was also trying to communicate I think, with my younger self, who was so rigid in his ideas of masculinity and femininity, and like what makes a real man and all that stuff, you know from pressure from society."
“I had a lot of ideas of the way that I should stand or the way that I should speak, and the clothes that I should wear, and the things I should and shouldn’t do. And it’s taking years it's kind of like, kind of active unlearning to be able to arrive where I am now with it… So I thought it was very very cool that something as hilariously traditional as like ‘The Man of the Year by GQ,’" Troye said with quotations, “I thought it was funny that I was accepting that award, and I thought it was cool. I kinda just wanted to express that, just like that journey that I’ve been on and how sort of ironic in a way it is to be arriving at that award now.”
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Wondering what he would say to someone that is like his younger self, “that feels like they’ve got to fit into this box, or struggling to come out,” Corey asked. “I would just say — do whatever you want,” Troye said with conviction, a hundred percent. Knowing that “not everyone's situation is safe,” his advice would be to “wait until you’re in a situation that you are,” because “even if it's not in your immediate environment right now, there's people all around the world that will love and accept you for exactly who you are.”
Troye also talked about some of the other amazing things that have happened to him this year, and some that will carry through to next year — like taking his parents with him to the GRAMMYs, sharing where he was and what it felt like to find out about his first ever nominations for the prestigious award, plus a whole lot more.
To hear it all, listen to the entire conversation above.