“Easy” (Remix) by Troye Sivan ft. Kacey Musgraves & Mark Ronson, Thursday, August 3, 2023

 

In October, Troye Sivan will release his first full-length record since 2018's Bloom.  While other pop stars have entered prolific eras with frequent releases, fans have had to wait a long time for new music from Sivan. His last major release was an EP in 2020 titled In a Dream, but the singer has been releasing singles since then; however, whether or not they will be part of the upcoming work is yet to be disclosed. Sivan's sophomore LP, Bloom, was a celebration of love and gay sex; however, In a Dream is an introspective collection of songs--with the exception of "Stud"--dealing with heartache and a failing relationship. 

TELL ME WE'LL MAKE IT THROUGH. The single "Easy" is the second track on In a Dream. The song was remixed by producer Mark Ronson and features a verse by Kacey Musgraves. Sivan had appeared on Musgrave's second Christmas album in 2019, and the reunion between the two singers on the 2020 single not only coincided with Sivan's breakup with model Jacob Bixenman but also Musgraves' divorce which would later be artistically analyzed on her 2021 record star-crossed. "Easy" is a song about trying to hold onto a relationship. The remix is a little faster than the original, and other than featuring the production of Ronson and the additional vocals of Musgraves, the second verse of the songs are different. Sivan sings more about the ending of his relationship on verse two in the original version, while Musgraves sings different lyrics on the remix. While Sivan uses the pronoun he in the first verse in both versions, Musgraves addition makes the song sound like a break up duet about a straight or straight-passing relationship. 

PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME. Complicating the meaning even more is the Musgraves-Sivan music video, which opens with "Part II," presumably the second part to original song and original video which features Sivan in an empty house watching a bizarre '80s music video with him in dyed red hair. The original video, released during the Covid quarantine, felt isolating, and breaking up with someone during that time was very hard. You couldn't just go to the bar or meet someone on an app; instead you were left indoors wallowing in your heartbreak. The sequel, though, sees Sivan in a Nashville dive bar, sporting a mullet. While cowboys and cowgirls are line dancing, a drag queen Jorgeous sings "Easy" karaoke-style, though looking dejected. Meanwhile, we see Sivan and Musgraves traveling from cheap motel to cheap motel with eerie CSI-styled flashes, making the audience feel that something sinister is going on. Sivan and Musgraves appear platonic in the video. They go from dive bar to dive bar. Sivan mostly just watches from the sidelines, though sometimes dances. Musgraves flirts with men provocatively. However, both end up together, sleeping in the same motel queen-sized bed. Sivan explained to Vogue that the characters that he and Musgraves portray have "separately had our own experiences, regrets, scorned our lovers and will find solace in each other." 





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