The most glowing compliments I can give to this album are to its production. The title track opens the album and I was incredibly impressed with the amount of noise I was hearing. There are bells, strings, synth, a background chorus and more, all with Sivan’s vocals on top. This is the type of song you can listen to countless times just to experience every aspect of its production and is the strongest of the album.

The fun continues with “Party,” which hosts an old school electronic beat that repeats over and over again, staying true to its lyrics of a party that never ends. “Party” samples Madonna’s “Music,” and stays true to the infectious and hypnotic dance-pop sound of the 2000 hit.

The album shines the most in its first four tracks, ending with “I Do This For You.” The track closes with my favorite sequence of the album; a medley of piano, soft choral voices and sharp percussion. I sat in awe as it finished, mostly because of how much I’ve been missing this type of production in contemporary music. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this track retain relevance many years from now. 

“She’s the Best” concludes with “Lost Time” featuring Lily-Rose Depp. Depp whispers in French, fitting for a surprisingly romantic song. The song is memorable for Depp’s inclusion only. Otherwise, it has few unique elements and trails off somewhat anti-climactically.

For all I’ve said about the energetic sound of the album thus far, there is a sizable amount of what I would consider fluff; fluff being generic songs inserted between the more daring work of the album. An example would be “Cowboy,” which consists of Sivan singing over soft guitar and simple drums. The song on its own isn’t bad by any means, but it is not memorable in comparison with the earlier tracks on the album. 

“Embarrassingly” and “Sex Star” share this bareness. In these fluff songs, the emphasis is placed on the intimate lyrics that convey a theme of Sivan wishing for love. I didn’t dislike the lyrics, but they were not strong enough to pull me in, without the interesting production. I am not interested in listening to the six millionth song about longing for something or someone with soft guitar in the background of mumbled vocals, and that is how the more confessional tracks of the album sounded to me. To my impatient ears, lyrics are the least interesting part of a song; if I have to pay attention to the lyrics to enjoy the song, the song just isn’t that good. A song with an interesting production can have no words and become a classic. 

The songs that will be remembered off of “She’s the Best” will be the ones that have a bold, daring sound. Sivan clearly progressed for this album. His interest in experimental music styles and calling back to the pop of yesteryear are indicative of his drive as an artist to grow and reach greater heights. “She's the Best” impressed me, and I look forward to seeing where he chooses to go from here, hopefully in the direction of lively and fun production.