On April 5, Conan Gray released his third studio album entitled Found Heaven. Prior to the full album premiere, five songs had been released as singles – “Never Ending Song,” “Winner,” “Killing Me,” “Lonely Dancers,” and “Alley Rose”. These songs gave a clue into what the album as a whole would sound like, which was much different from his previous albums.
Found Heaven leaned into more ‘80s vibes, with upbeat sounds and deeper vocals. It’s clear that Gray was trying something new and expanding from his other albums. Despite the differences in production, Gray’s lyricism and raw emotion is still found.
This could be due to the fact that most of this album was written in the wake of a breakup.
“It was my first real breakup, and it was really, really, eye-opening and interesting and formative and painful and all of these incredible huge emotions that I wasn’t expecting,” Gray said in a Rolling Stone interview.
These emotions really come through in songs such as the title track “Found Heaven,” “Fainted Love,” and “Alley Rose” (the latter being Gray’s favorite on the album).
Songs like “Never Ending Song,” “The Final Fight,” “Forever With Me,” “Eye of the Night,” and “Killing Me” describe the feelings after the breakup when you just can’t let the other person go and it seems like they’re haunting you.
Other songs include “Lonely Dancers,” about finding companionship with other people who are going through similar things; “Miss You,” about regretting letting go of the crushes that came before an ex; “Bourgeoisieses,” which has similarities to “Affluenza” from his first album Kid Krow; “Boys & Girls,” about having a crush on someone that everyone else also has a crush on; and lastly “Winner,” describing Gray’s parents and his childhood.
These 13 songs overall pack an emotional punch hidden behind beats that make you want to get up and dance your problems away for about 36 minutes. Gray is also going on tour this year for Found Heaven, beginning in July in Melbourne, Australia.
Freshman Emily Myers is a Staff Writer. Her email is emyers3@fandm.edu.