NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� was initially going to begin his third full-length album with a ballad, a wistful song looking back at lost love. Then he thought better about it. Frisky was the way to go.
鈥淚 want people to know I鈥檓 OK. Things are good. Life is fun. Sex is great,鈥� he says in an interview. 鈥淔rom the second they click play on the album, I wanted to slap them across the face.鈥�
The first song 鈥� also the first single 鈥� is 鈥淩ush,鈥� a blast of house and EDM beats topped by a male chanting chorus, combining to create the vibe of a crowded nightclub or strobe-lit rave.
鈥淚t was a feeling that I knew that I was feeling in life that I hadn鈥檛 yet managed to distill,鈥� Sivan says. 鈥淲hen we finally got 鈥楻ush,鈥� I was like, 鈥極K, this feels exactly the way that I want it to feel and communicates exactly what I wanted to communicate.鈥欌��
鈥淩ush鈥� 鈥� 鈥� was the last song added to 鈥淪omething to Give Each Other,鈥� Sivan's 10-track full return after
鈥淚 think that everything has been leading up to this,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I remember the first album, I remember being so stressed and in my head and full of self-doubt and imposter syndrome. On the second album, I was getting a little bit more confident and finding my feet and still didn鈥檛 100% know how to get from point A to point B.鈥�
鈥淪omething to Give Each Other鈥� sees the Australian singer-songwriter play with more production effects, layer in interesting sounds and even duet on a song sung partly in Spanish, all in a proudly LGBTQ+ space.
鈥淭his time I just took my time. I went to places that I loved, worked with people that I love. And it really was like a joy,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a single day of making this album where I was like pulling my hair out, stressed, wanting to cry. And I鈥檓 really happy about that.鈥�
The new album has the potential to cement Sivan among today's pop elite. His debut 鈥淏lue Neighborhood,鈥� in 2015, and 鈥淏loom鈥� both reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 album charts.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really feel the pressure to prove anything this time around,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 did feel a bit more free to play around and do what I think sounds coolest and what I think communicates the story best.鈥�
Sivan's list of collaborators over the years is long, including Alessia Cara, Charli XCX, Lauv, Zedd, Betty Who and PNAU. He featured on which saw him climb the Hot Country Songs chart in 2019. This time he teamed up with Guitarricadelafuente for 鈥淚n My Room.鈥�
Sivan, 28, says there's a thrill in crafting songs that keeps him coming back, describing it as an unpredictable process where control is illusory no matter how good you are.
鈥淲ithout sounding corny, there鈥檚 a layer of magic to it,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can go into the studio two days in a row, let鈥檚 say, with the exact same people in the exact same studio. And one day it happens and the other day it doesn鈥檛. And I don鈥檛 know what the difference is between those two days.鈥�
has a little of that studio magic. Sivan and producer Ian Kirkpatrick slowed down the chorus and then returned it to regular speed, creating a choppy and unsettled effect on Sivan's vocals.
"I think maybe previously I would have been like, 鈥極h, you can鈥檛 really hear my voice鈥� and that would have maybe got in the way. Whereas now I鈥檓 like, 鈥楴o, this sounds really cool and I love it.鈥� So I want to I want to just go for it," Sivan says.
For 鈥淥ne of Your Girls,鈥� a needy song with the lyrics 鈥淕ive me a call if you ever get lonely/I鈥檒l be like one of your girls or your homies,鈥� Sivan turned to a vocoder, which synthesized his voice.
"The song only really clicked for me when I realized that we had to communicate this sort of like numbness, this dissociative feeling. And I was like, 鈥極K, we鈥檝e kind of built this character of like a sad robot or something who鈥檚 so desperate to connect and who is trying, but for whatever reason, can鈥檛 can鈥檛 cut through.鈥欌��
During the pandemic, Sivan offered fans the EP which was experimental and uneasy, with the singer's bravado muted. In the interview, he reveals he was going through a breakup.
鈥淚 had had that low moment and the thing that I was craving more than anything was levity and fun and community and being with people,鈥� he says.
鈥淭hat really set me on the path of this album and kind of made it super crystal clear what this album should look like, feel like, sound like.鈥�
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Mark Kennedy is at
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
