Troye Sivan releases album She's the Best to positive reviews
Troye Sivan's album She's the Best came out on 9 October 2026. The Guardian and Variety both review it warmly, praising its experimental, 1990s-influenced pop.
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The story, neutrally told
Left · 2Australian singer Troye Sivan released the album She's the Best (Interscope) on 9 October 2026, and both The Guardian and Variety reviewed it favourably. The GuardianLC “Troye Sivan: She’s the Best review – a strange, singular pop star who deserves to be multiplatinum” Read at The Guardian ↗ VarietyLC “Troye Sivan Is at His Best on ‘She’s the Best,’ a Weird, Wild Exploration of Desire: Album Review” Read at Variety ↗ Left · 1Variety describes it as a 12-track record and Sivan's fourth album, following 2023's Something to Give Each Other, and says it moves from glitch-hop to drum and bass with heavy use of 1990s touchstones. VarietyLC “Across the dozen tracks, Sivan leans heavily on ’90s touchstones, traipsing from glitch-hop to drum and bass”“Sivan could have easily gone full party on his fourth album “She’s the Best”” Read at Variety ↗ Left · 1Variety lists Jack Antonoff, George Daniel, Finneas and Tayla Parx among the producers and songwriters, and says longtime collaborator Leland co-writes every track. It says Sivan dedicates the album to the women around him. VarietyLC “including Jack Antonoff, George Daniel, Finneas, Tayla Parx, and his longtime collaborator Leland, who co-writes every track”“Sivan dedicates the album to the women around him” Read at Variety ↗
Left · 1The Guardian's Alexis Petridis says Charli xcx sings backing vocals on the title track, which George Daniel co-produced, and that Nicole Kidman appears in its video. He adds that Madonna reportedly approved a sample from her 2000 song Music on the single Party. The GuardianLC “providing backing vocals on the title track, one of a brace of songs co-produced by her husband, George Daniel”“Nicole Kidman appears in the video for the title track from She’s the Best. Madonna apparently gave personal approval for him to use a sample from 2000’s Music” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 1The Guardian hears Saint Etienne-style and Balearic influences, shoegaze guitars and a hint of the Smiths. It calls the songs "uniformly great, very hooky" apart from the drum'n'bass-influenced Troye Meets World, which it says lands flat. The GuardianLC “it sounds a little like Foxbase Alpha-era Saint Etienne”“only the drum’n’bass-influenced Troye Meets World, with its noisome sped-up vocal hook, lands flat” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 1Variety, by contrast, cites Troye Meets World as an example of Sivan having a good time, and calls the album his "best, albeit weirdest" to date. It says the record is more concerned with lust, desire and longing for permanence, with an interiority his earlier records only gestured towards. VarietyLC “what ends up being Sivan’s best, albeit weirdest, album to date”“the UK garage-powered “Troye Meets World”” Read at Variety ↗
Left · 2Both reviews note the album's frank sexual lyrics, including the song Embarrassingly, about pleasuring oneself while thinking of an ex. The GuardianLC “substantially prettier than you might expect a song about – and there’s no polite way to put this – having a wank over the thought of your ex-to-be” Read at The Guardian ↗ VarietyLC “an admittance that he pleasures himself to the thought of a former lover” Read at Variety ↗ Left · 2Both place Sivan as an acclaimed artist who has not had a major commercial breakthrough. The Guardian calls him a "middle-class pop star" who deserves to be multiplatinum, while Variety says he has long seemed one hit single away from the next level of stardom. The GuardianLC “there seems no reason whatsoever why Troye Sivan should still be a relative cult figure within pop, rather than an actual multiplatinum star” Read at The Guardian ↗ VarietyLC “have always suggested he’s just one hit single away from unlocking the next level of pop stardom” Read at Variety ↗ Left · 1The Guardian wonders whether greater fame would stop Sivan being so "unapologetically queer" or experimenting so freely, and concludes that perhaps he is "absolutely fine where he is". The GuardianLC “If he were a huge star, would he be allowed to be as loudly, unapologetically queer as he is here?”“Perhaps he’s absolutely fine where he is.” Read at The Guardian ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- Both reviews treat the album as a strange, ambitious and rewarding pop record by an artist who deserves wider success.
- Emphasis
- Genre influences (Balearic, shoegaze, drum and bass), collaborators, and the frank queer and sexual themes.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Neither outlet reports sales or chart data, and no centre or right outlets covered the release.
- Charged language
- “strange, singular pop star”“Weird, Wild Exploration of Desire”“middle-class pop star”
- For example
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“a strange, singular pop star who deserves to be multiplatinum” — The Guardian
“a Weird, Wild Exploration of Desire” — Variety
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- She's the Best was released on 9 October 2026.
- Both outlets review it favourably and describe it as experimental and drawing on 1990s sounds.
- George Daniel produced on the album, and the song Party features prominently.
- Sivan has critical acclaim and a high profile but no huge chart hit.
Where accounts differ
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Troye Meets World
- Left
- The Guardian calls it the one track that lands flat, with a noisome sped-up vocal hook; Variety presents it as a fun, UK garage-powered highlight.
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What the album's commercial position means
- Left
- The Guardian argues Sivan's cult status gives freedom to experiment; Variety frames the album as a choice to forgo the easy route to a hit.
Troye Sivan person
As presented by reviewers, Sivan uses the album to look inward and test pop convention. Variety says he dedicates it to women around him and admits he isn't the most gifted singer. The Guardian says he is loudly and unapologetically queer on it.
“he instead uses the project as a canvas to look inward while testing the pliability of pop convention” — Variety
“He isn’t the most gifted singer — just ask him, he’ll agree” — Variety
UK and Ireland1 outlet
The Guardian places Sivan against British pop history (Saint Etienne, Top of the Pops, Dua Lipa's UK-rave influences) and the 'middle-class pop star' idea.
“music that might have slipped on to Top of the Pops in 1991” — The Guardian
The Guardian
North America1 outlet
Variety frames the album within Sivan's career arc from YouTuber to pop star and his earlier albums and singles.
“first as a young YouTuber broadcasting from his native Australia” — Variety
Variety
Left2 articles
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The GuardianLC · · Opinion
Troye Sivan: She’s the Best review – a strange, singular pop star who deserves to be multiplatinum
Sympathetic Petridis's review celebrates Sivan as a distinctive pop star whose limited commercial success seems unjust, while noting one weak track.
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VarietyLC · · Opinion
Troye Sivan Is at His Best on ‘She’s the Best,’ a Weird, Wild Exploration of Desire: Album Review
Sympathetic Horowitz's review presents the album as Sivan's most ambitious and introspective work, valuing aesthetic over immediacy.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 9 Oct 00:00 First The GuardianLC Troye Sivan: She’s the Best review – a strange, singular pop star who deserves to be multiplatinum Opinion
- 9 Oct 16:00 +15h 59m VarietyLC Troye Sivan Is at His Best on ‘She’s the Best,’ a Weird, Wild Exploration of Desire: Album Review Opinion
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.