Episode Details

After a painstaking pursuit of what he calls “perfect pop” on his euphoric 2023 album Something to Give Each Other, Troye Sivan could have easily stuck around the dancefloor for his next project. After all, Something was somewhat of a breakthrough for Sivan, 31, bringing him his first three Grammy nominations, two new Billboard Hot 100 hits (“Rush” and “One of Your Girls”), and a pair of high-profile tours: his own solo trek and the blockbuster Sweat Tour with Charli xcx.

Instead, Sivan leaned into the swinging pendulum of life on She’s the Best, his fourth album, out Friday on Interscope. “I wanted there to be this kind of push-and-pull between going from the stage and feeling like this hyper-empowered, hyper-sexualized, connected version of myself to then the reality of going back to the hotel and at times, honestly, feeling the most isolated that I felt in my life,” Sivan says. “That tension made me want to make something that felt really layered.”

In a sit-down interview with the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Sivan was joined by his collaborators Leland (“We would be friends even if neither of us were musicians,” the songwriter says of Troye) and his brother Tyde Levi (“I’ve known Troye since the day I was born!” the rookie producer laughs of his big bro) to talk about how the album came together and why much of its magic was found outside the studio.

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