King's Gambit: The Greatest Hits

### Producer

Troye Sivan (exec.) • Andrew Watt • Louis Bell • Joel Little • Bram Inscore • Abel Tesfaye • Max Martin • Oscar Holter • Oscar Görres • Stargate • Rihanna • Shellback • Greg Kurstin • Peter Svensson • Ryan Tedder • Klas Åhlund • Mike Spencer • Two Inch Punch

## Singles from King's Gambit: The Greatest Hits

1. "Ghost of Versailles"
Released: October 14, 2022

**King's Gambit** is the first greatest hits album by Australian singer and songwriter Troye Sivan. It was released through his label, Atlantic Records on October 14th, 2022. The album includes songs from all his studio albums—*Hide & Seek* (2016), *Chronos* and *Kairos* (2017), *afterdance* (2018), *afterlife* (2019), *MANIA* (2021), as well as his mini albums *Sleepwalker* (2016), *HYPER* (2021), and collaborative projects *One of Us* (with Karen Smith, 2018), *Earth, Water & Fire* (with Rihanna & The Weeknd, 2021), and various stand-alone singles. The compilation also includes three new songs, "Ghost of Versailles", "Kill Your Darlings" and "The Shore".

## Background

After the release of the acclaimed projects *MANIA* and *HYPER*, Sivan would take a break from the music industry to take a deeper dive into growing his acting career out. A success, he has received praise for his appearances in series like *ASCENSION* and *The Midnight Man*, as well as various reality shows, becoming a well-known and respected name in the media circles.

His return to the music scene came in the form of songwriting and production work for various artists in the industry, including husband Grant Gustin, Erika de Casier, and The Weeknd. Working on music, even if it wasn't his, sparked his interest for a new release of his own, and having been considering a Greatest Hits album for years now, Sivan declared this the best time and way to make a comeback.

## Writing and recording

Sivan started to work on the project in April of 2022, holding various meetings with close peers from the industry to choose and curate the past singles that would be making it into the main tracklist. From his multitude of singles, 23 of them were selected, these include all nine of his #1 and best-selling singles. For the track order, Sivan decided to list them in descending order, from newest songs to oldest, with his biggest hits exempt from this rule and placed at the start. The new additions to the compilation: "Ghost of Versailles", "Kill Your Darlings" and "The Shore" were all written and produced by Sivan from April through June 2022.

### Composition

Sivan's music, throughout his career, has been described as pop, synth-pop, electronic, disco, funk, rock, experimental and alternative. His works have incorporated industrial, punk, orchestral and trap as well. His discography has been discussed for its diversity and Sivan himself has been praised for his ease to embody every genre he has been influenced by.

Lead single "Ghost of Versailles" is a musical celebration of Sivan's career. Interpolating different melodies from previous hits, such as “Poison in Me” and “Nightmare”, the song is a reminder of the grandness of his career. Thematically, it speaks from the perspective of an outcast, placed in the setting of Versailles. This character, a ghost, sees people come and go, while they stay behind, never quite fitting in with his environment or being able to break through. With references to the LGBTQ community, as well as the music industry, Sivan shares his experiences through the lens of this ghost, a metaphor for his place in this world. At five minutes long, the song structures itself into different sections, each with a particular tone and sound.

"Kill Your Darlings" sees Sivan returning to the songwriting style he adopted in recent years, based on fantasy instead of own personal experiences. Inspired by the movie of the same name, this song imagines the relationship between two gay lovers, and through its poetic storytelling, reveals a relationship that would be tarnished by feelings of jealousy, possessiveness and obsession, leading to a tragic murder. Haunting, heavy and somber, the track follows no conventional structure, instead letting the story build the music behind it. Big on the featuring orchestra, the song sets a dense atmosphere, with different piano melodies, synths and percussion traveling through the track at different points, aiding the highest points of the story, making the listener feel every emotion the characters do.

The closing track of the compilation "The Shore" is also an ode to Sivan's career. This song takes the idea of bodies of water—a running theme through his entire career—and this shore representing the mental place he keeps coming back to, regardless of what he's trying or where he is emotionally, he always returns to this spot. Self-reflecting through his years, it sees Sivan at his most vulnerable, opening up about his thoughts and feelings through the years. The song begins small, with the faint sound of the ocean, it's a slow build of strings until it becomes much more anthemic, with loud instruments and a hopeful tone by the end of it. It closes with an extended outro of the same ocean sounds. If this song represents a farewell, it’s the perfect way of closing this journey through the years.

## Release and Promotion

After various teasers released through the Billboard account of an unknown artist, causing confusion and curiosity from audiences and peers alike, it was revealed to be Sivan, who took to his social media accounts to surprise announce *King's Gambit* on October 10th, 2022, due for release only days after.

### Singles

"Ghost of Versailles" acts as the album's lead single. It was released along with the record and sent to radio on the same day. The single got remixed with a performance from Apple Echo, the new platform in collaboration with Erika de Casier.

"Ghost of Versailles""Ghost of Versailles (An Apple Echo Show)"
## Title and Artwork

The album title, concept, and visual direction, all take direct inspiration from the game of chess. By portraying himself as the King, Sivan reflects on his past and current success, and calls checkmate to the music industry. The artwork shows Sivan standing in the middle of an oversized chess board, with King and Queen chess pieces flying around him. The color palette of purple and gold was chosen to represent the "royal" concept of the record.

## Critical Reception

Upon release, *King's Gambit* received acclaim from music critics and industry peers alike, calling it a "beautiful and classy" release, and "a necessary reminder of the legendary career", among more.

## Commercial Performance

*King's Gambit* debuted at the #1 spot on the Top Albums Chart with 100.00 chart points - the second album in 2022 to achieve this.

## Reimagined album by Troye Sivan

### Genre

Pop • alternative • rock • classical • experimental • synthwave • synthpop • hip-hop • r&b

### Producer

Troye Sivan (exec.)

**King's Gambit: Checkmate** is the reissue for is a reissue of Australian singer and songwriter Troye Sivan's second compilation album, *King's Gambit: The Greatest Hits*. It was released through his label, Atlantic Records on October 21th, 2022. The album is a reimagination and collaborative project of past singles released by Sivan, as duets with various artists from the industry, each in their own signature style.

### Songs

"Looking for Love in the Wrong Place", originally a soft rock song, was reimagined with Jennie into a haunting haunting and heavy track, turning up the themes about the afterlife. With P!nk, "Mad" was reimagined into an aggressive, abrasive rock track throughout. Lana Del Rey reimagines "Perhaps Too Beautiful" into a full musical piece, inspired by "The Beauty Underneath" from the musical Love Never Dies.

After their work together on "The Blue Marble", Björk reimagines "Rated Red" into a chaotic and experimental piece, with unusual instrumentation, as a brand new sound Troye has never played with in his own releases. Frequent collaborator The Weeknd turns "Nightmare" into a full synthwave fantasy, taken straight out of the 80s. "Chaos" sees Sivan taking on Madonna's signature party sound, glittery and synthy, with the chaos one would expect from both artists underneath.

"Como una luna en el agua" is a Spanish reimagination of "Like a Moon in the Water", with Christina Aguilera. "Dream Boy" is an upbeat take on the original ballad, reimagined by Sivan's husband Grant Gustin as a reclaiming of the original duet and celebration of their marriage; Grant's new verses interpolate "The Boy is Mine" by Brandi and Monica. "The Storm" combines Sivan's own track with Demi Lovato's hit single of the same name into a mashup, the pair sings each other's song over an instrumental combining both songs.

Joining forces with Meghan Thee Stallion, "Sleepwalker" is reimagined as a dark, hip-hop anthem in Megan's signature sound. "New Winds" sees Sivan and Erika de Casier's smooth and silky vocals over an R&B production, a first for Sivan. The final track, "Fire in the Hole" is reimagined with Grant Gustin and T.O.P, the now infamous throuple turns this song into an even bigger, camper track.

### Track Listing

***King's Gambit: Checkmate***

All tracks produced by Troye Sivan.