Skip to main content

Home Culture Culture Film & TV

Listen to Troye Sivan’s moving new ‘Love, Simon’ track ‘Strawberries & Cigarettes’

The Aussie pop star has recorded a nostalgic new number for the gay teen drama's soundtrack.

By Will Stroude

We’ve harked on about how great Love, Simon is for a while now, but what you may not know is that Greg Berlanti’s adorable gay teen drama also boasts one hell of a soundtrack.

Curated by former fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff, who’s also penned his own tracks as part of his band Bleachers, the LP which accompanies the movie features songs from some of our faves including The 1975 and Whitney Houston, as well as original contributions from the likes of MØ, Amy Shark, and our personal fave Troye Sivan.

22-year-old Troye, who’s set to release the eagerly-anticipated follow-up album to 2015’s Blue Neighbourhood later this year, co-wrote the reflective ‘Strawberries & Cigarettes’ with Antonoff and musician Alex Hope, who also worked with the young star on his debut record.

The track is a nostalgic, paired back affair that manages to capture the bittersweet magic of first love which serves as the centre of Love, Simon without sacrificing any of Troye’s unmistakeable personality.

Based on the book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Love, Simon tells the story of a closeted high school senior Simon (Jurassic World‘s Nick Robinson), whose life is turned upside down after a classmate threatens to out him.

As one of the first major studio coming out stories to be aimed specifically at a teen audience, the film has been heralded as a watershed moment for LGBT cinema, and aside from that, it’s just a really damn sweet movie too.

If you want to see what all the fuss is about, you can check out an emotional teaser scene here.

Love, Simon is in US cinemas now and opens in the UK on April 6. Watch the trailer below: