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The pop singer Troye Sivan<\/a> released \u201cSomething to Give Each Other,\u201d his third album \u2014 and first in five years \u2014 earlier this month to largely positive reviews.<\/p>\n But while Sivan, 28, may have grown into his musical and visual identity with a string of recent singles<\/a> and videos that borrow from 1990s dance music, meme culture and international cinema, he has not yet broken through as the mainstream gay male pop star many expected when his career began.<\/p>\n A one-time YouTube vlogger who was born in South Africa and raised Orthodox Jewish in Australia, Sivan came out as a young teenager and has been matter-of-fact in songs and interviews<\/a> about his sexuality. Earlier this year, Sivan appeared ably as an actor in HBO\u2019s much-maligned music industry satire<\/a>, \u201cThe Idol,\u201d about a pop star and her team being sucked into the dangerous web of a cult leader.<\/p>\n Yet despite his rising public profile and artistic confidence, Sivan has found less commercial success with \u201cSomething to Give Each Other,\u201d which debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard album chart, than his less self-assured previous two albums, \u201cBloom,\u201d in 2018, and \u201cBlue Neighborhood,\u201d from 2015.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On this week\u2019s Popcast, a conversation about this new iteration of Sivan\u2019s sound and persona, where he fits into pop\u2019s growing middle class<\/a> and the ceilings he may still face as an openly gay male performer.<\/p>\n Guests:<\/p>\n Harry Tafoya, a freelance writer for Pitchfork, NPR and others<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Shaad D\u2019Souza, a freelance writer and critic for The Guardian, The New York Times and others<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Connect With Popcast.<\/strong> Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show\u2019s Facebook group<\/a> and Discord channel<\/a>. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com<\/a>. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n