The Singles Jukebox

Poppers, to two decimal places.

[Video]
[6.83]

Rachel Saywitz: Heathens, debauchers, partakers of libations, gather round, for this is a story most foul. It’s a titillating tale of delight, a sensuous account of the sweetest carnal pleasures. For here bare buttocks were slapped, saliva was swapped, and crotches were lit aflame. And on this most sinful of nights, the boomiest of bass ran pounded a skinny man with undead eyes. Yes, this was the God-hating demon himself. Using his nasal tone to elevate the most traditional of club beats into a sexual paradise. Giving his catchiest hook to a gaggle of men, no doubt caught under his spell. Beware this evil-doer. For he makes even the straightest of people fall into his gaze. Under any circumstances, do not feel the rush. 
[8]

Nortey Dowuona: Xander went through a lot in that series. He got his music career ground into nothingness before he became an adult, got shocked into incoherence by a lame who has a godawful ponytail, got cussed with homophobic lies, it’s great to hear him launch off these exciting house drum programming that gets so big in the mix he kinda has to be – wait, his name is Troye? Wow, what else did they take — he had an actual singing career and acting career before this. He’s never been named Xander? decided to just dance to the song and fix the blurb later, never does
[8]

Oliver Maier: Sivan’s a curious export to me, a mostly middling songwriter who converts more and more fans each cycle simply by existing, like the Luigi who wins by doing absolutely nothing of pop music. I don’t begrudge him it, I just don’t see his angle. “Rush” is a certifiable Big Tune™, but to me that has more to do with the shouty lads on the hook than Troye, who flits around like a cherubic chaperone.
[7]

Will Adams: So the solution to my problem with Troye’s just-okay voice (besides Hot Chip remixes) is to baton pass the chorus to a full Village People chant. Brilliant! It’s the cherry on a just-too-tailored piano-house instrumental, which makes me think that maybe he should phone Disclosure for some collabs.
[6]

Katherine St Asaph: A rare show of genuine tension and heat from Troye Sivan. But that’s not due to Troye so much as the heady fog of reverb and posse of mega-masc guys he surrounds himself with.
[7]

David Moore: It’s too late for me to grok Troye Sivan’s whole deal, I think, but this reminds me of the fake-seeming dance tracks I constantly pull from Spotify’s new music playlists, most of which are designed for Dance Mode [picture of purple disco ball] and Beast Mode [picture of buff shirtless man holding dumbbells] and presumably many other Modes that I can’t imagine this particular song hyping me up for or, more accurately, helping me to survive with only minor shoulder injuries.
[4]

Will Rivitz: Free us from the tyranny of gang vocals.
[5]

Michael Hong: Not really a radical reinvention — if “Dance to This” were dialed to a 5, then this is amped up to a measly 7, and Troye’s been way more explicit with underage hookups and poorly disguised flower metaphors — but damn if this isn’t fun.
[7]

Thomas Inskeep: Why isn’t Troye Sivan an international, honest-to-goodness, radio-saturating popstar?! (Spoiler alert: it’s because he’s so openly gay in his lyrics, which in 2023 is absurd but there you fucking go.) Sivan’s vocals here are simultaneously confident and dreamy, and goddamn, “Rush” is so swoony it actually feels like the rush you get meeting someone on a dancefloor and just connecting, immediately. And also, I mean, poppers; he clearly knows of what he sings.
[8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: This summer, after seeing Barbie & Renaissance in the same day, my friend found poppers on the floor of our favorite drag bar that were so strong that I’m convinced to this day that I have brain damage. Was it a coincidence that this happened two weeks after the release of this song? I think not. 
[7]

Ian Mathers: In everything I’d read about the Troye Sivan album I don’t recall seeing anyone mention “he sometimes sounds a bit like Friendly Fires now” and honestly I would have liked to have had that information.
[9]

Alfred Soto: I would’ve liked Troye Sivan as a model. Introverted but not shy, fluent in the ways in which a life of constructing an identity on one’s phone brings new adventures and stirs up familiar fears, Sivan isn’t coy. “Rush,” though, reminds me of Jessie Ware’s latest album: the forced euphoria of a camp counselor with two weeks to go before the end. 
[5]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: An all-time great song to jump up and down and chant along to. To make beautifully head-empty pretty bro music like this is a true gift that must not be squandered.
[9]

Leah Isobel: “Rush” is suitably aerodynamic, with the exception of its blocky football-chant chorus. It’s like a beer commercial plopped into a DJ set, and its masculinity comes across as glib compared with the airy pianos and bouncy bongos. But I get that Troye is the chronicler of emotional distance within intimacy, and I like that he takes some time out from huffing poppers with the boys to wink, “This shit is so much fun“; that’s the kind of distance that feels true, the moment when your brain surfaces just long enough to realize how ridiculous it is to be a body in space.
[6]

Brad Shoup: The video version offers a deal: you get a post-chorus without violent panning between fore- and background, but also a comedown outro about loving “with reciprocity”. I’ll take the wispy original, which tries to bulk up with a great bro chorus but ultimately glides around corners, pleading for pleasure. (“Kiss it when you’re done” is such a good line. I can’t get over it.) Also, two-and-a-half minutes is the right duration for this kind of churning yet weightless pop-house encounter.
[7]

Crystal Leww: There’s a Tiktok floating around where a girl asks where are the men who like women who look like Troye Sivan. While it’s extremely funny, it also speaks to the fact that there’s a real dearth of men in Western pop who are out here popping their pussy and putting their whole back into it. “Rush” is a full pop song with a curated, cohesive vibe throughout the song, a hook that doesn’t stick out in a sea of blah before and after it, and a choreographed silly little dance that Troye and his boys do. The bar is in hell — we’re lucky we at least have “Rush.”  
[6]

Alex Ostroff: On the Something to Give Each Other press tour, Troye pointedly raved about how inspired he is by Janet. Intriguingly, his standom doesn’t focus on her Imperial Phase: Not her declaration of Control, the politics of Rhythm Nation 1814, nor the personal discovery of janet. Not even The Velvet Rope‘s blend of the internet, queer activism, kink & self-empowerment which left such an indelible mark on the last decade of R&B and underground dance music. No, when asked for his three favourite Janet songs, Troye’s picks are ‘Together Again”, “All Nite (Don’t Stop)” and “SloLove.” Two-thirds of those are from Damita Jo, Janet’s horniest record. Damita Jo featured “Warmth” and “Moist,” back-to-back odes to fellatio and cunnilingus so explicit that Janet cut them from the clean version altogether. That feels right for the Troye era that launched with “Rush.” It’s not that Troye hasn’t explored sexuality before — Bloom‘s title track is famously a bop about bottoming, after all — but those were his takes on “Let’s Wait Awhile,” “Anytime, Anyplace,” or the psychosexual therapy moments on Velvet Rope, where sex was a window into his emotional state and romantic relationships. Here, Troye just delves into the joy of spontaneous lust and delivers a femme top anthem where his masc bros chant about wanting your touch. He whispers “Breathe ‘1, 2, 3’ / take all of me” and instructs you to “Kiss it when you’re done”. Like Damita Jo, ‘Rush’ can sometimes feel uncomfortable or cringey (is the glory hole 12″ vinyl packaging too much or exactly enough?), but it also undeniably fucks.
[8]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Earlier this year, a relatively popular musician saw a tweet I made that called their music bad, and responded with a quote tweet that derisively called me a twink. It was wonderful. I have never been called a twink before, and never will be again given my body type, but it started to make me think about all the things I’ll never experience in life because of the ways in which we play into type when it comes to sex. Or maybe that’s just me being pessimistic. Anyways, how about those meatheads chanting here?
[6]