Troye Sivan is arguably one of Australia’s most internationally popular – and active – singers.

For some reason, he has yet to reach ‘household name’ status.

But with a new album and years of achievements under his belt, Sivan continues to prove himself worthy of the title.

His third studio album, Something to Give Each Other, will drop on Friday, and if the reception of its first single, Rush, is anything to go by, it will do very well.

The new project is a party album inspired by a 2020 breakup and the years that followed, according to a recent Guardian piece.

But fans shouldn’t expect “a big sob story” – in fact, Sivan seems keen to leave behind his previous “alt-bedroom-sadboy-gay-pop” vibe.

“I was having so much fun, and I felt like I had sort of met the world again for the first time in a long time,” Sivan said, of the period that inspired the album, which was spent in Melbourne.

Not everything is sunshine and roses; the album has already weathered some controversy for only featuring a certain (thin) body type to be portrayed in his music videos following the release of Rush.

“I definitely hear the critique,” Sivan told Billboard.

“To be honest, it just wasn’t a thought we had – we obviously weren’t saying, ‘we want to have one specific type of person in the video’. We just made the video, and there wasn’t a ton of thought put behind that.”

He also pointed out the targeting of his own body by trolls, admitting he struggles with body image.

Success years in the making

Sivan is definitely not an anonymous face among the younger crowd; the South African-born singer has netted millions of followers online since he was in his teens.

A popular performer even as a child, Sivan quickly gained a following thanks to vlogs and singing clips posted to YouTube.

He also did well as an actor, cast in plays and films – including 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine as a young version of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.

While it’s common for queer celebrities to wait until their success is cemented before publicly coming out, if they choose to come out at all, Sivan decided to publicly come out as gay while negotiating his first record deal in 2013.

Sivan made the cover of Vogue Australia this year, alongside fellow The Idol actor Lily-Rose Depp. Photo: Instagram/@troyesivan/Vogue Australia

“I was about to sign my record deal, and I really wanted to be in charge of how I came out,” he told People.

“I didn’t want anyone to take that away from me. I wanted to start going out and going to gay clubs and meeting boys, and I wanted to write songs about love that were true and genuine.”

The now-28-year-old scored his first big hit with single Happy Little Pill in 2014, which soon soared to the top of iTunes charts worldwide.

The same year, Time named Sivan as one of the world’s 25 most influential teenagers of 2014, alongside Lorde and Malala Yousafzai.

In the years since, Sivan has kept up a steady stream of hit releases, such as 2016’s Youth, along with a string of collaborations with some of the world’s biggest stars, including Ariana Grande, Martin Garrix, Charli XCX, Mark Ronson and Tate McRae.

Sivan has also proven to be a fashion darling, scoring invites to countless designer shows and even a couple of Met Galas.

His acting career is continuing to develop, with his most recent appearance in this year’s controversial HBO show, The Idol.

If you don’t know the name Troye Sivan yet, you better get used to hearing it; all signs point to it being on everyone’s lips sometime soon.