Rush (Troye Sivan song)

Sivan first previewed the song in June 2023, revealing the title and credits.[3] In an accompanying Instagram post, the singer apologised for making his fans wait five years for new solo music.[4] The title of the song was partly inspired by a poppers brand of the same name,[5] yet also describes the feeling of dancing with "someone hot".[6] According to Sivan, the song is meant to reflect his experiences of feeling "confident, free and liberated", while being the "most connected to the music and community" surrounding him. He elaborated:

"Rush" is the feeling of kissing a sweaty stranger on a dancefloor, a 2 hour date that turned into a weekend, a crush, a winter, a summer.

— Sivan on the topic of the song, [7]

Michael Sun of The Guardian believed "Australia is in its gay era", thanks to the back-to-back releases of "Rush" and Kylie Minogue's "Padam Padam", and described Sivan's track as "pure gay smut: a paean to poppers inspired [...] by the sweaty clubs of Melbourne's Smith Street.[8] Ben Beaumont-Thomas of the same publication compared its funky house rhythm to Spiller's "Groovejet", writing, "with a rowdy chorus chanted as if by a troupe of distractingly buff personal trainers, it's all sweat and heavy breathing".[9] Shaad D'Souza of Pitchfork awarded the song their "Best New Track" distinction and observed that "Rush" is "unconcerned with anything but pure ecstasy". D'Souza highlighted the chorus and the associated "homoeroticism of a football chant" paired with a "piano-house beat". The writer went on to praise the singer for producing a "sublime, orgiastic summer anthem".[1] Kaelen Bell of Exclaim! found Sivan's "horny new single" a "thumping, kinetic dance banger".[10] Writing for Dork, Stephen Ackroyd called it "a bum-slapping bop" and "the most fun you'll have all summer".[11] Jason P. Frank of Vulture also found it a "bop", while thinking it works better with the music video, and added: "This is a song meant for partying through the heat, for doing a substance or two, for turning the dance floor into a make-out sesh."[6]

In an opposing opinion, Vulture's Choire Sicha said his "immediate response was revulsion" upon hearing the song, and listed the particular aspects of "Rush" that the hated the most: "The retro, clumpy high-house chaka-chaka beat; the '70s Village People backup chorus anthem singing; the overproduction of his vocals into pure Jocelynism; the whooshy club bridge sound effect."[6]

The music video was released on 13 July 2023.[12] Directed by Gordon von Steiner, it was filmed in Berlin.[13] Larisha Paul of Rolling Stone observed that the characters only fixate on "wordless communication", as they only speak "through looks and movement", building around the motif of "unconditional and all-consuming love".[14] Two versions of the video were released. The main video is available in most countries, whilst a secondary version was released and geo-restricted to other countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.[15]

The video was generally received well-received for its unapologetic queerness, choreography, and references to LGBTQ+ culture. Michael Sun of The Guardian felt "the video is practically bacchanalian, composed mostly of waifish queers twirling. 'Rush' brims with ludicrous sexuality and bawdy bravado. It is, perhaps, the best defence of twink rights."[8] Ben Beaumont-Thomas of the same publication wrote that the video, "full of glory holes, hot bodies and lustful looks, underlines the kind of blood-pumping activity Sivan is getting at."[9] In an interview with Sivan on Apple Music, Travis Mills said the visual was "beautifully shot", and reminded him of Britney Spears' music video for "I'm a Slave 4 U".[16] It has also been compared to Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" music video.[17][18]

The video did however receive some criticism for a lack of body diversity amongst its dancers.[19] Tomás Mier, a journalist for Rolling Stone tweeted: "It seems like a case study on how white gays choose to view queer people as a whole. There's not a single fat person in the entire video. Just white twinks and chiseled bodies."[20] Sivan responded to the backlash and said, "to be honest, it just wasn't a thought we had — we obviously weren't saying, 'We want to have one specific type of person in the video.' We just made the video, and there wasn't a ton of thought put behind that."[19] After Sivan's reaction, Mier wrote "Sivan's response is definitely believable, and I respect him for being honest. It is concerning, however, that no one in his cohort of queer friends (or fellow creatives) thought this decision could lead to controversy and division."[21]

Vulture's Choire Sicha opined "the video has all the subtlety of a 1990s Calvin Klein campaign. It's a return to body fascism and emaciation — two gay tastes that actually never went out of style. Eat something, stupid twinks!"[6] Sivan slammed the body shaming aimed towards him, saying, "There was this article [...] and they were talking about [the lack of body diversity], and in the same sentence, this person said 'Eat something, you stupid twinks.' That really bummed me out to read that — because I've had my own insecurities with my body image. I think that everyone's body is as beautiful as it is, including my own, and it just sucks to see people talking about other people's bodies."[19]