Troye Sivan flowers with superb second album ‘Bloom’

By Mark Kennedy | Associated Press

Troye Sivan at a performance last month. | Getty Images

On Troye Sivan’s debut album in 2015, he admitted he was “just a lost boy/ready to be found.” The Australian singer-songwriter was often shy, anxious, almost quivering. When asking his lover for a kiss, he begged him not to bite.

Now, Sivan is out with a new album, and, wow, what a difference three years makes.

Confident, in control and knowing, Sivan returns with the aptly titled “Bloom,” an addictive 10-track collection of unrushed, synth-rich pop songs from a man now not afraid of love bites.

“I got my tongue between your teeth,” he sings in “My My My!,” a euphoric flash-bang burst of freedom and happiness.

The actor-model-You Tube star reunites with some of his main songwriting partners — Brett McLaughlin, Bram Inscore and Allie X — but the result is more adult, atmospheric and assured than his impressive debut album “Blue Neighbourhood.” That recording portrayed a young man coming to grips with his sexuality and a new world of sensual experiences.

On the previous album, he was asking to hold hands and just sleep next to his lover (“but that’s all I want to do right now”). Now, he’s offering a “trip into my garden” — a line that comes from the title cut, a sly and sensual love song cleverly stuffed with double entendres. (“I bloom just for you.”)

Nowhere is Sivan’s maturity more apparent than on “Dance to This,” his fantastic, spacy duet with Ariana Grande that is perfectly calibrated and features voices melding beautifully. It goes down like an ice-cold glass of water on a hot night.

Sivan also shows off his confidence and ability in a stripped down “Postcard,” with Gordi offering her vocals. “What a Heavenly Way to Die,” which takes its name from The Smiths’ “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” at first sounds like a risky move but ends up quite beautiful and perfectly executed.

The only real misstep? The lyrics to “Plum,” which has so many fruit-based references that it seems forced.

The album ends with the slow-burning, turgid “Animal,” which might remind fans of “Wild” from his debut. Both songs — about lust — are curiously contained. There’s a strange coolness there, belied by primal lyrics that include “I am an animal with you.”

It’s wonderful, but here’s hoping Sivan lets loose a little on his third album. He’s become a pop force to be reckoned with.