By Caley Griebenow, features editor
In my Ears: Troye Sivan
Favorite Song: Fools
Vibe: upbeat yet honest, original pop music
A couple weeks ago, when most people were freaking out about Adele’s 25 album, I was still anxiously waiting on a different artist to release their music. Don’t get me wrong, Adele is incredible, and her music makes everyone wants to dramatically sing into the wind wearing fake nails and a downjacket. (Skip to 2:56 here to see what I mean.) But on December 4th, my waiting had paid off; Troye Sivan’s Blue Neighbourhood was released, and I’ve been listening to it ever since.
With anthems like Tove Lo, beats like Lorde, and the sensitivity of Bon Iver, Blue Neighbourhood is a hidden gem that combines emotionally-charged lyrics and overlapping rhythms that you can’t help but hum along to. It tackles the coming-of-age questions about relationships, becoming an adult, and finding acceptance.  
My favorite song, Fools, explores a relationship that caused more pain than happiness. “Everything is shattering and it’s my mistake/Only fools fall for you/Only fools.” While it may seem like another relationship song to someone who isn’t familiar with Sivan, the song is also laced with pain about finding acceptance for being in a gay relationship.
Being gay is something Sivan embraces and does not shy away from. Another song, “Heaven,” is about Sivan’s relationship with God, and how he wonders if he will get into Heaven. “How do I get into Heaven/Without changing a part of me/How do I get into Heaven/All my time is wasted/Feeling like my heart’s mistaken.”
Other notable mentions are Ease, DKLA and Suburbia, because unlike mainstream, glossy pop songs, Sivan isn’t afraid to be vulnerable and honest about love and heartache.
Sivan is also a familiar face in the YouTube world, where he has 3,762,890 subscribers. He has used this platform for talking about being gay, recording his album, and more recently, performing his song “Youth” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with the help of Jimmy’s band The Roots.
Overall, Blue Neighbourhood sounds like it belongs in an urban venue (like the Chicago theater, where Sivan is performing in February) or on stage at the now four-day extravaganza that is Lollapalooza. Sivan deserves recognition as if he was a headliner, as he has truly made a name for himself with Blue Neighbourhood.