Troye Sivan’s sophomore studio album release “Bloom” left me wanting more and provided a good taste of how the young artist has evolved and progressed as a musician.

“Bloom” has a very cohesive sound, which was commendable. Sivan executed a listing of songs that stay in one sound but still sound unique from track to track. Throughout the album, there was a very clear sound Sivan was trying to perfect which included many synthy pop/electronic rhythms and sounds. The addition of this style to Sivan’s music captured a wider audience than his first studio album, “Blue Neighborhood” which leaned more on an indie pop sounding album.

I recall watching an interview of Sivan explaining that “Bloom” is how he would have done his previous album if he could’ve at the time. I think it is very clear in “Bloom” that Sivan has found more of how he wants to sound and how to execute it.

The strongest songs in the album easily would be “Dance to This” (feat. Ariana Grande) “My My My!” and “Lucky Strike,” two of which were single releases prior to the album’s release. The songs all have a very upbeat vibe and make you want to dance, which I personally really enjoy. “Dance to This” has a heavy influence from the ‘80s with uncommon rhythms and electronic noises that are rarely used anymore in modern pop music. “My My My!” and “Lucky Strike” follow a more mainstream style of music, which explains their popularity in numbers on YouTube and Spotify.

The title song “Bloom” at first didn’t fall well to my ears, but after I listened a couple more times I really enjoyed it. The song is very clever in its lyrics and metaphors, all referring to nature and gardens, but in reality, talking about the next step between lovers. This common lyric theme was mimicked in the later song “Plum” which stood out as a more modern electronic-pop song and used fruit and season themes which were clever as well.

The album also included many impressive slow tempo, emotional pieces, such as “What a Heavenly Way to Die” and “Postcard (ft. Gordi).” “Postcard” is extremely raw in its lyrics and simplistic piano chords, where as “What a Heavenly Way to Die” reminded me a lot more of his previous album with a calming, air-like quality, yet I found myself a little bored halfway through the song due to its repetitiveness.

I enjoyed venturing into more personal experiences through Sivan’s songs, “The Good Side” and “Seventeen” which both prevailed as introspective songs that made you really think and feel something, due to its specific and nostalgic lyrics.

“Animal” would be the only song on the album I wouldn’t listen to again because I found it boring and not my cup of tea. The song was very slow and didn’t seem to be going anywhere as the song progressed.

“Bloom” as an album was very emotionally expressive and appealing to me. I definitely found myself wanting more due to the fact that the album only included ten songs, five of which he released prior to the album being dropped. If Sivan perhaps only released “My My My!” as a lead single and allowed listeners to really indulge in the best album at its release date, it would have been more exciting to listen to.

“Bloom:” ★★★★☆