Troye Sivan Aims for Cultural Impact Over Sales with New Album 'She's the Best'

Troye Sivan is prioritizing cultural significance over first-week sales for his upcoming fourth studio album, She's the Best. The Australian pop artist desires to create music that resonates and endures.

"I honestly couldn't tell you what my first-week sales are," Sivan admitted during an appearance on Las Culturistas With Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. "I've just never really been numbers-minded when it comes to music."

Instead, Sivan believes the most important measure of success for his new album is its ability to leave a mark on pop culture.

"The heartbreaking thing, rather than it only selling however many thousand or whatever, would be if it went by without any sort of cultural impact," he stated. "I would be devastated."

This perspective aligns with his previous era, which became a significant moment for queer pop in recent years. Sivan's 2023 album, Something to Give Each Other, charted well on the Billboard 200 and topped Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart, with singles like "Rush" and "One of Your Girls" also impacting the Billboard Hot 100. The era expanded to include the 2024 SWEAT Tour with Charli XCx, a type of cultural moment Sivan hopes to replicate.

"I think back to those moments of, like, the first time I watched Moulin Rouge! or the first time I saw the 'Dirrty' video from Christina Aguilera," he explained. "Those things, those sorts of moments – I'm obsessed with the idea of being able to try and give that to people."

While Something to Give Each Other was an exercise in "perfect pop," his new album promises to be more raw and expressive.

"I do feel like this album… is the most potent distillation of the references, musical references, that have made me the person that I am," he said.

The album draws from a wide range of influences, including Janet Jackson's "Together Again," late '90s grunge-pop akin to Marcy Playground, and even elements of Fatboy Slim. Sivan describes the resulting sound as intentionally "chaotic" and layered.

This marks a departure from his earlier work. "My last album, my goal was like perfect pop," Sivan remarked, referencing his background as a "student of the school of Max Martin and Swedish people." However, after years of focusing on the mechanics of polished pop, he felt a natural shift towards greater expressiveness.

"I made a lot of the album with my little brother," he shared. "I made a lot of the album at home."

Sivan is also opting for a swift rollout for She's the Best, preferring fans to experience the project holistically rather than dissecting individual tracks over an extended period.

"I think the album is best experienced when listened top to bottom," he noted. "It's like a journey."

This journey began on August 14 with the release of "She's the Best," the title track and lead single, with the full album slated for an October 9 release. This project is his first full-length since Something to Give Each Other and his initial music since signing with Interscope Records.

The accompanying video for the title track, directed by Gordon von Steiner and featuring Nicole Kidman, offers a preview of Sivan's latest visual world. Following previous collaborations with von Steiner on "Rush" and "One of Your Girls," the video brings Kidman, a fellow Australian and Boy Erased co-star, into the album's aesthetic.

The hosts of Las Culturistas reacted strongly to an unreleased song and its video played during the interview, suggesting Sivan is indeed creating the cultural moments he aims for. "That's gonna be a huge f***ing moment," host Matt Rogers declared.

Ultimately, Sivan's goal transcends simply surpassing previous successes; it's about creating lasting art.

"I think to me personally, this one is going to age well," he said. "I think I'm going to look back on it in like 50 years and be able to play a couple of the songs or all of the songs and be like, wow, I'm really proud of 31-year-old Troye for doing that."