Madonna's 'Music' Sampled in Troye Sivan's Medieval Party Anthem

Troye Sivan just crashed the medieval banquet hall — and he brought Madonna's DNA with him. His new single "Party" flips a sample from the Queen of Pop's Billboard Hot 100 number one "Music" into a stomping electro-dance anthem, and the accompanying video might be the most gloriously chaotic thing he's ever put his name to.

Knights, Swords, and Bare Behinds

Shot on location at a castle in Berkeley, England, the "Party" video is exactly as unhinged as that setting suggests. Directed by Gordon von Steiner — the same visionary behind Sivan's Grammy-nominated "Rush" clip — the choreography-heavy production casts Sivan as a gleaming knight navigating a medieval world full of sword fights, revelry, and plenty of cheeky excess. It's campy, it's lush, and it absolutely commits to the bit. Von Steiner and Sivan have built an impressive creative shorthand together at this point, and this collaboration might be their most ambitious swing yet.

According to Billboard, the track is the second preview of Sivan's upcoming album She's the Best, due October 9, following the release of the title track. "Party" was co-written by Sivan alongside Leland, his brother Tyde Levi, Rob Feher, Kaelyn Behr, Elvira Anderfjärd, Tove Burman, and Luka Kloser, with production handled by Levi, Feher, Behr, and Sivan himself.

Sir Ian McKellen and the Queer Lineage

If the castle setting wasn't already cinematic enough, the video opens with a voice-over from none other than Sir Ian McKellen, lending the whole affair a gravitas that somehow makes the bare behinds feel even more theatrical. McKellen's connection to Sivan runs deep — the two first worked together when Sivan was just 14, during a production of Waiting for Godot in Perth. Decades later, McKellen's rich baritone sets the scene: "The conquest is nearly behind us. Fires blaze from one end of the realm to the other. And what is victory, if not celebrated? For at long last, a party."

For Sivan, that casting was about something much bigger than star power. The idea of queer lineage — older generations lighting the way for the next — runs through the project's very core. The whole concept of the video, he explained, grew out of a conversation with von Steiner about how queer people have always found spaces to gather, celebrate, and be themselves, even across centuries. What would that party have looked like 200 years ago? That question cracked the whole world open.

Madonna's Fingerprints All Over It

Of course, you can't discuss "Party" without acknowledging the sample at its heart. [Madonna's legacy as a pop force](article/madonna-celebrates-historic-no-1-album-with-confessions-ii) is built on exactly this kind of genre-bending, dancefloor-commanding energy, and "Music" — her chart-topping 2000 single — remains one of her most infectious moments. Lifting that groove and feeding it into Sivan's queer medieval fantasy feels less like a borrowing and more like a baton pass. [The Queen of Pop](article/madonna-lights-up-nyc-for-club-confessions-bash-ahead-of-chart-topping-moment) has long understood the sacred space of the dancefloor, and Sivan is clearly operating in that same tradition.

It's worth noting that this isn't the only corner of pop music drawing inspiration from timeless sources right now — [Charli XCX's recent burst of creative energy](article/charli-xcx-drops-new-single-wink-wink-amid-album-excitement) has similarly kept the conversation around dance-pop evolution buzzing at full volume.

What's Coming on She's the Best

With two singles now in the world and a full album dropping October 9, Sivan is clearly in his most expansive creative era yet. "Party" signals an artist who isn't just making music for the club — he's building mythology around it. The combination of a Madonna sample, a Grammy-winning director, an LGBTQ+ icon narrating in full costume-drama mode, and a genuine conceptual backbone makes this far more than your average pre-album drop. The party, it seems, is just getting started.

Related on Ni4o: Madonna Opens Up About Jealousy and Glastonbury Dreams · Charli XCX Drops New Single 'Wink Wink' Amid Album Excitement · Madonna Lights Up NYC for Club Confessions Bash Ahead of Chart-Topping Moment