For lack of a more iconic comparison, I think its fair to equate the Troye Sivan of today with the eighties success of Boy George and Culture Club. I find that they certainly sound similar – a yearning vocal which tends to operate soulfully over New Wave arrangements. Both artists have developed a dreamscape for gay romance where both love’s power and fragility can sound truly electric – a stylistic nod to club music, albeit one that’s more melancholic and introspective. George’s “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” is fun to dance to, but is so somber sounding as well, and so too, many tracks on The Blue Neighborhood will have you gazing at your dancing feet, grooving alone to the emotions. It’s just that type of blue mood – one which I personally have always gravitated too. It’s not all Pop perfection here though – I find the album to have several tracks that sound too similar to one another, and more frustrating for me are the silly millennial whoops and heys included on big tracks because…well, because everyone else was doing it, especially in 2015. I do my best to mentally omit the ‘wa ah ahs’ and ‘hey’ background vocals on a pretty big and moody opening track “WILD.” Honestly, why do these tired ideas creep into our Pop music? Is there really some deep seated need for us audience members to ‘sing as one’ like a children’s choir song after song, from Pop to EDM. Yep, these sonic follies, plus the annoying as hell vocal effect formanting, plus the Trap clutter on certain beats, were as trying for me back then as they are now - and perhaps even sound more frustrating listening to a song like “YOUTH” today. The beat finally drops and the sampled singing squirts and squelches over and over again, mind-numbingly. No, I am much more for the songs on The Blue Neighborhood which strove to circumvent overused trends – and with 16 joints to listen to, I thought my odds were pretty good.
