It has been a busy week in pop, with music video drops from Taylor Swift (“End Game”), Dua Lipa (“IDGAF”), Hayley Kiyoko (“Curious”) and Troye Sivan (“My My My!”). In an unusual twist, the straight pop stars are all out of love in their visuals (even though Swift’s feature-filled third Reputation single is a declaration of heartfelt romantic intent), while their queer counterparts are giddy with lust.
On “Curious”, the lead single from “Lesbian Jesus” Kiyoko’s debut album “Expectations” (forthcoming, 2018), the rising queer icon provides a playful perspective on the love triangle dynamic made familiar with Tegan and Sara’s “Boyfriend”. As the lesbian ex-lover of a bisexual woman now in a heterosexual relationship, Kiyoko unleashes her envy with a beat-heavy melody (‘If you let him touch ya, touch ya, touch ya, touch ya, touch ya, touch ya (yeah)/ The way I used to, used to, used to, used to, used to, used to (yeah)’) before arriving at her hook: ‘I'm just curious, is it serious?’ The music video is more risque than the song; Kiyoko whispers the question into her ex-lover’s ear after getting very up-close-and-personal in the ladies’ room.
Troye Sivan, the queer boy wonder from Down Under, seems poised to fill in the gap left by British icon George Michael (who was outed by his own public indiscretion two decades ago and passed away in 2016). After exploring the tricky process of coming out in public and embracing his sexuality on his debut album Blue Neighbourhood (2015), Sivan appears to be jet-set on proving that “the world is ready for an openly gay male pop singer” with his brand of EDM-tinged electropop and sultry-yet-somewhat innocent vocals.
In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, Sivan revealed that his latest hit “My My My!” was inspired by his relationship with boyfriend/model Jacob Bixenman. The upbeat and dancefloor-ready track keeps its lyrics relatively PG (‘Oh my, my, my/ I die every night with you/ Oh my, my, my/ Living for your every move’), but also makes subtly moves towards a more sexually-charged lyrical territory: ‘Spark up, buzz cut/ I got my tongue between your teeth/ Go slow, no, no, go fast/ You like it just as much as me’.
The Grant Singer-directed video draws from Madonna’s “Justify My Love”-era visuals to maintain a balance between artsy black-and-white scenes and a gritty underground milieu inhabited by the likes of Brody Blomqvist. Sivan’s dance moves reflect his own vision for the song, which is for listeners to “throw all inhibition to the wind, be present in your body, love wholeheartedly, move the way you’ve always wanted to, and dance the way you feel”. The melancholic dog days of his “Blue Neighborhood” trilogy are over, now’s the time to be cast aside the charade and be swept up by the sea of love.
