\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
Beverly Glenn-Copeland\u2019s latest release is called \u201cLaughter In Summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wade Muir<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
This month, Gay City News takes a look at new releases by Troye Sivan and Beverly Glenn-Copeland.\n<\/p>\n
Troye Sivan | \u201cBlue Neighbourhood: Deluxe Edition\u201d | Capitol<\/a> | Feb. 13th<\/h4>\nWhen Troye Sivan released his debut album, \u201cBlue Neighbourhood\u201d in December 2015, he had already experienced a taste of celebrity. As a teenager, he found a large audience on YouTube. His gayness was part of his public presentation even before \u201cBlue Neighbourhood\u201d was released. Now that he\u2019s 30, Capitol has issued a second deluxe edition of the album, with two bonus tracks: \u201cStrawberries & Cigarettes,\u201d originally released on the \u201cLove, Simon\u201d soundtrack, and \u201cSwimming Pools.\u201d<\/p>\n
On most of \u201cBlue Neighborhood,\u201d Sivan\u2019s voice holds back, with keyboards and drums supplying the drama. It feels like what it was: an album made by a very young man after the break-up of his first relationship, preparing to leave behind the Australian suburbs where he grew up. The lyrics are direct yet tentative: \u201cTalk Me Down\u201d promises \u201cI want to sleep next to you, but that\u2019s all I want to do.\u201d Elsewhere, he sings \u201cI was trying to be cool, I was trying to be just like you.\u201d \u201cHeaven\u201d ponders the compromises inherent in love: \u201cwithout losing a piece of me, how do I get to heaven?\u201d \u201cFools\u201d puts a nervous spin on dance music. Amidst a swirling background, Sivan regrets his indecisiveness.<\/p>\n\n<\/section>\n![\"Capitol](\"https:\/\/gaycitynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Troye_Sivan_-_Blue_Neighbourhood.jpg?quality=51&w=300\")
Capitol has issued a second deluxe edition of Troye Sivan\u2019s debut album, \u201cBlue Neighbourhood.\u201d<\/span>EMI Music Australia<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe EDM and trap influences mark \u201cBlue Neighbourhood\u201d as a product of its time, as does the feature from Alessia Cara on a remix of \u201cWild.\u201d Yet the album represents something that remains rare: queer youth speaking honestly about their experiences to a potential audience of millions. Heterosexuals, especially men, take for granted that the world will give them a platform to discuss their heartbreak. Although Sivan would go on to be more sexually frank, this is his starting point.<\/p>\n
Sivan\u2019s popularity hasn\u2019t faded, but \u201cBlue Neighbourhood\u201d marked its peak. The album went platinum, but its two follow-ups, \u201cBloom\u201d and \u201cSomething to Give Each Other,\u201d<\/a> have not even gone gold. \u201cYouth\u201d remains his only top 40 hit. It\u2019s hard to avoid the suspicion that his gayness has placed a glass ceiling on his commercial success.<\/p>\nBeverly Glenn-Copeland<\/a> | \u201cLaughter In Summer\u201d | Transgressive\/PIAS<\/h4>\nWhile listening to \u201cLaughter in Summer,\u201d distance collapses, as though one were sitting in the living room of Beverly Glenn-Copeland and his wife Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland. Recorded after Beverly\u2019s 2024 diagnosis with dementia, it strips his music down to its barest essentials: voice, piano and flute. Despite a small discography, he\u2019s performed in a variety of styles \u2014 his first two albums\u2019 jazz-folk, the electronic \u201cKeyboard Fantasies\u201d \u2014\u00a0but \u201cLaughter in Summer\u201d delivers the most austere version.<\/p>\n
Six of the album\u2019s nine songs are duets between Beverly and Elizabeth. On the title track, she takes the lead, while he murmurs \u201cla-da-da.\u201d These are spontaneous performances, recorded live in the studio by the couple, accompanied by a choir. With only one exception, the recordings are first takes. Stark production accentuates the impact of Beverly\u2019s voice, steeped both in classical lieder and Black American traditions.<\/p>\n
Despite Beverly\u2019s condition, \u201cLaughter in Summer\u201d is joyful and optimistic. \u201cLet Us Dance\u201d contains only five lines, but they establish the album\u2019s spirit: \u201cthe day greets the dawn\/the sun dances down beside\/this road we are on.\u201d The lyrics\u2019 imagery refers to the seasons, as on \u201cEvery New\u201d: \u201cwelcome the spring\/the summer rain again.\u201d They see aging and death as part of a natural cycle. On song after song, Beverly declares his devotion to Elizabeth. \u201cChildren\u2019s Anthem\u201d finds both him and her offering their wishes for the future. \u201cblessings on our precious children\/may they grow up strong and free.\u201d Beyond the meaning for the Glenn-Copeland family, it\u2019s a benediction for all of us, in a world growing ever more menacing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiddle Island Lament,\u201d during which vocals are accompanied only by a flute, is a small departure from the piano-based music. \u201cLaughter in Summer\u201d cracks open with a countercultural idealism, expressing its feelings in an unadorned manner. The difficulties and humiliations that dementia always brings can wait for later; for now, Beverly and Elizabeth are happy to celebrate their love for each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaughter in Summer\u201d closes as it begins, with a second version of \u201cLet Us Dance Down the Road.\u201d \u201cLet us dance down the road,\u201d sings Beverly, with Elizabeth answering his voice with a fainter echo. Performing in a call and response, they close the song with wordless vocals. This is as good as place as any to shut the door on a life of great accomplishments.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
The EDM and trap influences mark \u201cBlue Neighbourhood\u201d as a product of its time, as does the feature from Alessia Cara on a remix of \u201cWild.\u201d Yet the album represents something that remains rare: queer youth speaking honestly about their experiences to a potential audience of millions. Heterosexuals, especially men, take for granted that the world will give them a platform to discuss their heartbreak. Although Sivan would go on to be more sexually frank, this is his starting point.<\/p>\n
Sivan\u2019s popularity hasn\u2019t faded, but \u201cBlue Neighbourhood\u201d marked its peak. The album went platinum, but its two follow-ups, \u201cBloom\u201d and \u201cSomething to Give Each Other,\u201d<\/a> have not even gone gold. \u201cYouth\u201d remains his only top 40 hit. It\u2019s hard to avoid the suspicion that his gayness has placed a glass ceiling on his commercial success.<\/p>\n While listening to \u201cLaughter in Summer,\u201d distance collapses, as though one were sitting in the living room of Beverly Glenn-Copeland and his wife Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland. Recorded after Beverly\u2019s 2024 diagnosis with dementia, it strips his music down to its barest essentials: voice, piano and flute. Despite a small discography, he\u2019s performed in a variety of styles \u2014 his first two albums\u2019 jazz-folk, the electronic \u201cKeyboard Fantasies\u201d \u2014\u00a0but \u201cLaughter in Summer\u201d delivers the most austere version.<\/p>\n Six of the album\u2019s nine songs are duets between Beverly and Elizabeth. On the title track, she takes the lead, while he murmurs \u201cla-da-da.\u201d These are spontaneous performances, recorded live in the studio by the couple, accompanied by a choir. With only one exception, the recordings are first takes. Stark production accentuates the impact of Beverly\u2019s voice, steeped both in classical lieder and Black American traditions.<\/p>\n Despite Beverly\u2019s condition, \u201cLaughter in Summer\u201d is joyful and optimistic. \u201cLet Us Dance\u201d contains only five lines, but they establish the album\u2019s spirit: \u201cthe day greets the dawn\/the sun dances down beside\/this road we are on.\u201d The lyrics\u2019 imagery refers to the seasons, as on \u201cEvery New\u201d: \u201cwelcome the spring\/the summer rain again.\u201d They see aging and death as part of a natural cycle. On song after song, Beverly declares his devotion to Elizabeth. \u201cChildren\u2019s Anthem\u201d finds both him and her offering their wishes for the future. \u201cblessings on our precious children\/may they grow up strong and free.\u201d Beyond the meaning for the Glenn-Copeland family, it\u2019s a benediction for all of us, in a world growing ever more menacing.<\/p>\n \u201cMiddle Island Lament,\u201d during which vocals are accompanied only by a flute, is a small departure from the piano-based music. \u201cLaughter in Summer\u201d cracks open with a countercultural idealism, expressing its feelings in an unadorned manner. The difficulties and humiliations that dementia always brings can wait for later; for now, Beverly and Elizabeth are happy to celebrate their love for each other.<\/p>\n \u201cLaughter in Summer\u201d closes as it begins, with a second version of \u201cLet Us Dance Down the Road.\u201d \u201cLet us dance down the road,\u201d sings Beverly, with Elizabeth answering his voice with a fainter echo. Performing in a call and response, they close the song with wordless vocals. This is as good as place as any to shut the door on a life of great accomplishments.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nBeverly Glenn-Copeland<\/a> | \u201cLaughter In Summer\u201d | Transgressive\/PIAS<\/h4>\n