What liquor brand should Troye have namedropped instead? Sound off below…
[Video]
[5.40]
[4]
Vikram Joseph: Regard offers him a marginally beefier production than he’s used to, but otherwise this is Troye Sivan on autopilot — he’s developing an unfortunate tendency to default to breathy cloud-pop which straddles the line between pleasant and anodyne. He’s made it work before, but “You” lacks either the dazed, crumbling melancholy of “Take Yourself Home” or the surging anticipation of “Bloom”. +1 point for the synth motif that comes in after the chorus, -1 because I don’t believe for a moment that Troye drinks Hennessy.
[5]
Alfred Soto: The Timothée Chalamet of gay pop returns with more strategically deployed wanness. When he says the Hennessy’s strong, I don’t believe he could’ve taken a sip without collapsing, which, sure, is the point. He and Tate McRae have no chemistry: whether they sing to each other or isolated in their discrete obsessions, Regard’s beats push them into no meaningful directions.
[4]
Mark Sinker: Early strikes against it: those repeat mention of Hennessy’s are more kneejerk product placement than they’re telling observational detail, plus why say your Corvette car when you just mean your Corvette? Alexa! Tell me about the other kinds of corvette! Yes this was never going to be a small warship or the song would be way more interesting. As it is, it tootles along, never not generic, and you care not one whit about anyone involved, before or after this relationship ended.
[5]
Iain Mew: Two singers providing mirror image approaches to the same material is a fun way of doing multiple guest spots; both sound like marking time until the neon synth solo that’s the song’s highlight.
[6]
Claire Biddles: Like the majority of last year’s In A Dream EP, “You” is minor league Troye Sivan, but there’s fun to be found in its slightness. The lapping movement of the chorus exudes the ostensible easiness that he perfected on Bloom, with a diluted version of that album’s underlying sting of anxiety. The wordless, zippy electronic sections are much sweeter than Tate McRae’s verse, but perhaps that’s personal aversion to the kind of voice that hasn’t yet ironed out its affectations. These one-off releases — alongside his culturally important Architectural Digest video — suggest that Sivan is taking it relatively easy between albums, and “You” is cute enough to justify its existence in this transitional period.
[6]
Ian Mathers: The kind of thing you might hear in the mall (if it’s ever safe here in Ontario to go to one again) and not really notice but find gently pleasant, perhaps find yourself bobbing your head softly to its rhythms while you look at shirts or something. About the most surprising thing is the use of an actual proper noun (Hennessy, even) and yet maybe it’s just absence making my heart grow fonder, but I keep finding myself ok with just one more play.
[7]
Joshua Lu: “You” is fairly boilerplate Spotipop, but it’s elevated by the strengths of each collaborator. Troye Sivan’s voice was made for this kind of moody beat, bringing to mind the best parts of In a Dream. Tate McRae’s voice may not be as prime for this kind of song, but she provides a great counter to Troye’s husky tone, and any change of pace is welcome after the frustratingly beige “You Broke Me First”. And Regard ties it all together with that brooding, echoing backdrop, the kind that evokes both sex and loneliness with every throb of that bassline.
[7]
Nortey Dowuona: Regard leaves a swirling fog of synths grounded by Troye’s sensual yet thinly sketched tenor and the Rock’EmSock’Em drums, chipped synth squiggles and rubber bass, draining out Tate’s sideway smushed croon. He then leaves them warped and blending with mushed synths, spiraling chainsaw synths and vocal chopping that spins but doesn’t come aflame. Meanwhile, “Marvin’s Room” smirks, his terrible job done.
[5]
Juana Giaimo: I love Troye Sivan’s soft youthful tone, but here he sounds anonymous, especially compared to Tate McRae’s louder tone (her voice literally seems to sound louder in the mix). I guess this is nice, but we should expect more than just nice from a song.
[5]