"Revelation" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with Universal Music Australia, EMI Australia in 2013 and ...

and Icelandic musician

Jónsi Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson (; born 23 April 1975) is an Icelandic musician; he is the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a cello bow on guitar and his falsetto or count ...

. In July 2018, the song was previewed during the trailer for the film '' Boy Erased'', and released on 18 October 2018. The song was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

at the

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, the Best Original Song – Feature Film award at the 9th Hollywood Music in Media Awards and a

Satellite Award for Best Original Song The Satellite Award for Best Original Song is an annual award given by the International Press Academy The International Press Academy (IPA) is an American association of professional entertainment journalists, representing both domestic and fo ...

at the 2018 Satellite Awards.

Background

Sivan explained to ''

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'' that after reading the script, he was set on getting his music into the movie: "I was ready to sell my soul. I said, 'You can have any song that I've ever written, I'll write new ones, I'll do anything.'" Sivan wrote several unsolicited original songs that did not make it into the film, but director

Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is known for his portrayal of Will McGill on the first two seasons of the Australian drama series'' The Secret Life of Us'' (2001–02), and for playing Owen Lars in t ...

put in a request for Sivan to tackle a specific scene, where Jared (played by

Lucas Hedges Lucas Hedges (born December 12, 1996) is an American actor. A son of filmmaker Peter Hedges, he studied theater at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Hedges began his acting career with a supporting role in Wes Anderson's com ...

) has a pure interaction with another boy for the first time. Sivan said: "Jónsi from

Sigur Rós Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band that formed in 1994 in Reykjavík. It comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Jónsi, Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal soun ...

was working on some music for one scene where he had started this little piano melody, but he didn't really know where to go lyrically or melodically, so that's when Joel, Jónsi and I went for breakfast one morning and they talked to me about that specific scene, and I ended up writing the song later that day." Sivan explained to ''Billboard'' that "The idea of that person being a revelation in your life, where you can kind of do something that feels so natural and so right and be fine on the other side, that was a really potent thing in my head."

Live performances

In October 2018, Sivan performed the song live on ''

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'', backed with a string quartet. In November 2018, Sivan performed the song live on ''

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''.

Reception

Joshua Bote from ''Billboard'' described the song as a "a divine, haunting ballad," saying, "Filled with reverb-heavy keys, creaky strings and cinematic, post-rock flourishes, Sivan sounds absolutely stunning on 'Revelation' as he sings about young, queer love as a form of freedom and revolution." Randall Colburn from ''

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'' said "Buoyed by gentle piano and the kinds of swelling atmospherics central to Jónsi's work, the thoughtful, calming song achieves a kind of melancholic catharsis that's as hopeful as it is heartrending." Mike Neid from

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called it a "stirring anthem with a powerful message".

References

{{Troye Sivan 2010s ballads 2018 singles 2018 songs Songs written for films Troye Sivan songs Songs written by Jónsi Songs written by Troye Sivan Songs written by Leland (musician)