Troye Sivan Takes Brave Stance of Gagging for Nicole Kidman in New Music Video

Troye Sivan’s “She’s the Best” is about thinking a messy, glamorous woman in your life is the coolest and most alluring specimen you’ve ever met. It is also about wishing Nicole Kidman would caress you, do a shot with you, and put you in drag. Sometimes Sivan goes heavy on the specific, but that right there is a universal feeling! His new single falls into the classic genre of “Songs That Are Actually ‘Ring of Keys,’” only instead of it being about a little gay girl identifying with a fascinating rural butch upon seeing a trillion keys on her dungarees, it’s about a little gay 31-year-old having that “I know you” moment upon seeing an effortless diva and the “cum stain on her dress.” It’s really a very sweet mood piece, which starts off with Sivan mostly breathily talk-singing his observations over a beat in a way that sounds downtown and throwback and like a twinkier Lou Reed. It builds to an upbeat outro with backing vocals by Charli XCX.

But really, the song is secondary to the music video, directed by Gordon von Steiner, who also worked with Sivan on the highly replayable videos for “Rush,” “Got Me Started,” and “One of Your Girls.” It shows women getting into drag, lolling around in apartments and cars, rehearsing ballet and ballroom, and strutting around the city in statement coats, sunglasses, and cigarettes. The credits give Kidman a “Featuring” and the legendary drag queen Sasha Colby a highly vaunted “With.” It marks Sivan’s first collaboration with his fellow Australian stateswoman since they both appeared in 2018’s Boy Erased, and it explains a lot about why Kidman told British Vogue yesterday about how, as a young woman, she “used to go to trans clubs.” Wherever Nicole Kidman goes, we come to that place for magic.