He could’ve been the next Troye Sivan, but Nick Ward is trying something even better

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Sydney artist Nick Ward gets messy and weird on his new album.

After creating buzz in 2024 with his debut album House with the Blue Door and a Troye Sivan tour support slot, the path seemed set for Sydney artist Nick Ward to do a Sivan and ascend the pop charts with whatever came next.

Instead, Year of the Snake makes the more interesting choice of taking Blue Door’s introspective, oddball bedroom pop and expanding it onto a larger canvas, with Beach Boys masterpiece Pet Sounds serving as the inspiration.

Like Brian Wilson, Ward has opted to project positivity despite his personal life becoming a dog’s breakfast, with his lyrics often reflecting this dichotomy (see: “I need a little oxygen” and “never give up” from opener Making Time).

The album’s restless, psychedelia-tinged songs reveal their magic over time, although some are more immediate. In My Head is E.L.O. if they had an LSD phase; Jenny is a yacht rock-inspired gem; and Oh Paloma!, with its Vampire Weekend DNA, really should’ve been the album’s lead single.

Pet Sounds may be an impossible benchmark to reach, but Ward has made a lemonade album out of several lemon relationships, emerging as something better than a pop star in the process: an idiosyncratic artist who’s willing to get messy and weird. That’s a win for both him and us. James Jennings

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