HYPER

## Singles from HYPER

1. "New Winds"
Released: July 8, 2021

2. "Looking for Love in the Wrong Place"
Released: July 22, 2021

**HYPER** is the second extended play by Australian singer-songwriter Troye Sivan. It was a surprise album, announced and released on July 9, 2021, thought Atlantic Records. It serves as a companion piece to *MANIA* (2021), his sixth studio album. It features 7 tracks comprised of previously released b-sides and outtakes from the original record. The album was preceded by the release of the single "New Winds" on July 8, 2021. Sivan conceived *HYPER* with producers Andrew Watt, Louis Bell, Joel Little and Bram Inscore, all who previously worked on *MANIA*.

## Background

In February 2021 Sivan released his sixth album *MANIA*, conceived in quarantine during the pandemic, with 9 tracks in its standard edition, and 12 in its later full edition. The selection process for these songs was quite rigorous to make sure every song had a spot in the narrative and soundscape he aimed to create, because of this, Sivan shared that he had many songs that didn't make the final cut. Some of these songs were released through a new strategy for him, single vinyl b-sides. This surged interest in every release, but kept the new tracks exclusive to the vinyl, seeing no other release. His aim with *HYPER* was not only to give the audience more tracks to listen to and extend the era, but also to make those b-sides tracks available to anyone, regardless of buying vinyls or not.

Prior to *HYPER*'s release, Sivan had released a live recording *WORLD OF MANIA: The Live Album* of the virtual concert of the same name–to promote *MANIA* and older songs–and its associated single "Perhaps Too Beautiful". Later in the week he surprise-announced *HYPER* on his Tootland account just a few hours before its release. He changed his layout into bright colors to fit the new record. "New Winds" was released alongside the announcement to promote the album.

## Music and lyrics

Consistent with the main album's sound, *HYPER* follows the rock, punk and industrial inspirations from it, while injecting them with much darker song themes. *HYPER* features more inspirations from dreampop to best portray the stories being told. The orchestra is still very much present, and utilized in innovative ways that you don't see often on pop music. The songs were left off the main album for not fitting the overall narrative and soundscape, but they create their own when put together in this release.

### Songs

The opening track–and lead single–"New Winds" is a breezy soft rock track with twinkling synths that create a hazy dreampop soundscape. At its peak, it's a song that washes over you like wave, pivoted by an instrumental that makes usage of distorted guitar and filtered vocals to add a mystical effect. Written in third-person perspective, it speaks about the confusion and disheartenment of a person who has been "ghosted" by someone else, completely cut off and isolated from them. The haunting and atmospheric "Down by the Lake" is a downtempo ballad driven by distorted strings acting as its slow-paced percussion. The song feels covered in a thick fog that's hard to navigate, aided by Sivan's breathy vocals that seem to come from everywhere and nowhere. The song tells the story of a murder, first in third-person perspective as somewhat of a narration, and first-person towards the end, changing the chorus to be from the victim's perspective. No resolution is found at the end–a crime with no motive, no weapon, yet there's still a sense of peace crowding the song.

Intense, deep, and dark, "Melt" is an alternative rock track with touches of electronic production. It's an ever-growing track that reaches a soaring climax, transporting you into a galaxy with twinkly and glittery synths, and sparse strings around it. In almost a desperate and harrowing manner, the song imagines Sivan turning himself into liquid and pleading to be drunk by his love interest, in hopes they'll always be with him, in him–he's showing him the lengths he would go to for him. Sung from the perspective of a ghost, "Looking for Love in the Wrong Place" is a soft rock song that reflects on the difficulties of moving on from someone, by painting it through themes of the afterlife. It features the biggest orchestra in the album, almost being led by strings on top of the electric guitars and upbeat drums. "I Need to Learn" is a hypnotic electro-rock track that feels like a constant buildup in an understated way. Driven by its adventurous production, it's a dreamy and atmospheric song that features drums through its entirety. Sivan's vocals are constantly swelling as he keeps repeating the title of the song–almost like a mantra–while he reflects on past mistakes.

The slow-burning "Nobody Else" is a massive dreampop track with the grandest production on the record. Thematically it sees Sivan as a jealous lover, borderline narcissistic as he sees himself as the only one worthy for his love interest. Towards the end of the track, electric guitars soar to give the song almost an unhinged sound that matches its lyrics. Sivan delivers his most dynamic vocal performance to truly bring the track alive. "For Good" is the final song on the record, first titled "Gone", then "Gone for Good", until it settled on its current title, it was the one that was closest to being on *MANIA*, only getting cut a few days after it was finished. It's a song that sees Sivan as desperate to escape his own thoughts, promising himself he'll find a way to leave. Upbeat, frantic, and abrasive, it features boasting guitars to create the biggest rock soundscape in the album, with slight punk tendencies.

## Release and Promotion

*HYPER* marked the first time Sivan abandoned his traditional album rollout, opting to release it as a surprise. He unveiled the album on his social media just hours prior to its release to digital music platforms at midnight on July 9, 2021. A week after the album's release, Sivan expanded the album with the addition of three bonus tracks, all reworked solo demos from the songs he participated in for the *Earth, Water & Fire* collaboration project with Rihanna and The Weeknd.

### Singles

"New Winds" serves as the lead single of *HYPER*. It was released along with the album's announcement, prior to its release. It was accompanied by a music video posted to YouTube directed by Sivan himself. It was serviced to radio formats on the same day. The song debuted at #2 before rising and topping the *Billboard Hot Singles Chart* on its second week, becoming Sivan's 14th number one single in the charts. It went to hold a second week at #1 making it Sivan's second single to do so after "Nightmare" (2016). "Looking for Love in the Wrong Place" became the album's second single, released on July 22, 2021, it peaked at #5 in the charts. Both singles got remixes produced by Sivan himself dubbed "Hypermanic Mix", released on their second week as further promotion.

*New Winds**New Winds (Troye's Hypermanic Mix)**Looking for Love in the Wrong Place**Looking for Love in the Wrong Place (Troye's Hypermanic Mix)*
## Title and Artwork

The album art, packaging and promotional materials for *HYPER* were created to be a contrast of *MANIA*–where *MANIA* was dark, moody, and clean, *HYPER* is a brighter, colorful, more chaotic side to it. It doesn't have the sense of visual cohesion that *MANIA* does, and it uses this to its advantage. The cover artwork sees a silhouette of Troye hidden in shadows wearing a tailored suit with bright spots of various colors around him creating a halo of some sorts. The artwork for "New Winds" sees Sivan standing looking down–he's wearing a completely black outfit and longer hair–around him, an abstract burst of color inside a polaroid frame that's been distorted.

## Critical Reception

Upon release, *HYPER* received acclaim from music critics, who admired the storytelling form of songwriting, something Sivan hadn't done before. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from publications, the album has a weighted mean score of 77 based on 3 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim", this makes *HYPER* the second highest rated album of all time in the platform. Critics pointed "Looking for Love in the Wrong Place" out as a highlight.

## Commercial Performance

*HYPER* debuted at the #2 spot on the Top Albums Chart with 90.02 chart points. It then went to top the charts in its second week, gaining a peak of #1 on the Top Albums Charts with 97.92 chart points. As of September 2021 the album is certified Platinum with 277.13 chart points in total.

## Track Listing

***HYPER*** - Standard Edition

***HYPER*** - Expanded Edition

 **Total length:** | 36:59