WILD • Troye Sivan and Alessia Cara

Can this be a hit now please

Nine months ago, this lovely little song called WILD (all caps, obviously) was released into the... iTunes Store. The title track off Troye Sivan’s fourth EP (his second with EMI), it was the perfect introduction to Troye’s new sound — not quite as dark or moody as anything off TRXYE, but still unmistakeably Troye. Lyrically deeper than most of the pop music on pop radio, and full of evocative, personal storytelling, we were witnessing the launch of a true global popstar.

Because this was kind of the moment he was breaking through, the world wasn’t ready for it. It took until Youth hit in December that mainstream radio gave Troye the hit he’d deserved.

At the same time Troye was blowing up, so was Alessia Cara. I remember being introduced to a song called Here one September night in 2015, and immediately connected with that “this party sucks and you’re all idiots, get me out of here” narrative. It really started to break in December, and once it did, the song was everywhere. She followed it up with the criminally underrated Wild Things, a song best described as the pop music equivalent of a winter campfire.

Anyway they’re both YouTube stars and now proper crossover pop stars and Troye getting Alessia on the track is some absolute star-crossed music destiny.

Well done Alessia, well done Troye, well done everyone.

Hopefully, what this means is that now both Troye and Alessia are so well established, and we’ve had time for their breakout hits to settle, the song will chart in a big way — as a lovely twist on an old favourite for the people who loved it the first time, and as a new discovery for the many late to the game.