Conan Gray, an indie and pop icon in the music industry, has reentered the charts with his new album, Found Heaven. Gray has been releasing music since 2018. Gray first released Sunset Season, a five song EP about life in suburbia. His debut album, Kid Krow, came out in 2020, followed by his sophomore album, Superache, in 2022. Gray has established himself as an observer, with most of his songs standing from the point of a spectator. A large sum of Gray’s discography details his experience of watching and imagining what could be, but has never taken the role of someone in a relationship. The only songs nearing this are his lyrical, made-up stories. Found Heaven crosses this threshold of first-hand love and storytelling and takes on a completely different sound than his last two records.
Gray has created a 1980s-inspired album engulfed by synth and electric guitar that pulls inspiration from well-known artists of that era such as A-ha, Cutting Crew, and David Bowie. It is a stark contrast from his usual melancholy ballads and hard-hitting bridges with lots of piano, soft vocals, and an occasional touch of pop. In Gray’s past music, he used a pattern of soft intros, with a gradual increase in sound during the pre-chorus, and strong lyrics tied with crescendos during the bridge. In Found Heaven, Gray took a turn to synth-pop with heavy instruments throughout the entirety of his songs and constant switching between octaves in his voice.
What makes this album so atypical and tender compared to his previous work is that Gray wrote about a real relationship, with real heartbreak and real emotions. His previous music had never dealt with the realm of reality and personal romantic relationships. Found Heaven is Gray’s debut to a truly personal heartbreak album. Gray has explained that he immersed himself in this album, and let every emotion he felt completely overwhelm him. He found a way to capture the pure and raw emotions he felt shine through in this album.
The third track on the album, “Fainted Love,” is Gray’s take on the concept that disingenuine, unrequited love is better than no love at all. The title, “Fainted Love,” is a play on words meant to sound like “Fated Love,” because while he deludes himself with the idea that it could be real love, this relationship is fated to fail. This song possesses much more than just deeper meanings because its instrumental and vocal aspects truly capture Gray’s manic state of mind and hidden pain. Gray begins the songs with a toned down voice, and trails into vocal flipping. Vocal flipping is stylistic choice when the singer flips their voice between stable and unstable registers, such as purposeful voice breaking, which adds to the same feeling of clinging onto something toxic. Interluding the pre chorus and the chorus, Gray has spoken word pieces that offer insight on the opposing viewpoint, which then drastically transition into much higher pitched choruses. The chorus is bruised with pain and desperate pleas that are emphasized with harmonies and louder instrumental backing. The bridge acts as a resolution, an acceptance of sorts in Gray’s mind that this relationship is built on lies, which brings the story full circle. “Fainted Love” is one of the most complex, instrumentally, lyrically, and vocally rich, and compelling songs on the album.
Abbey Road is a famously known road in London, popularized by The Beatles album of the same name. Gray’s song “Alley Rose” encapsulates a single moment in time on Abbey Road, followed by a gut-wrenching heartbreak. Gray found himself stranded on Abbey Road where he was supposed to meet the subject of the album. This song has not only quickly become a fan favorite, but is also one of Gray’s most distressed and poetic songs to date. It is a looking glass into the moment where he was shattered and brushed away in the blink of an eye, which makes it a desolating tale of his pain. “Alley Rose” begins like a firework, with it quickly rising and then a moment of anticipation before it bursts into a bright display of colorful sounds. The bridge is a desperate and heartbroken scramble for an explanation asking how this person who taught him how to love could make him feel so scattered. His voice is reminiscent of a plea for answers and comfort from someone he cannot seem to accept has left him “hangin’ alone.” Each unique aspect of “Alley Rose” makes it one of Gray’s most impressive tracks on the album and in his career.
Sticking out from the rest, “Bourgeoisieses” is the black sheep of the album not only for its sound but its meaning. The bourgeoisie is characteristic of socially unaware rich people who hold materialistic values above all else. Gray grew up with a constantly fluctuating monetary situation surrounding him and was always intrigued by the upper-class people who were surrounded by wealth. He craved to be a part of it, without truly understanding it. Misspelling it was not a clumsy mistake, but an artistic choice to reflect his lack of understanding of this class. “Bourgeoisieses” is a social commentary on this lifestyle, while also acting as a lighthearted break in this heartbreak album. “Bourgeoisieses” is an upbeat, eccentric, and captivating song that shows of Gray’s versatility in songwriting and producing.
Other songs on the album, including “The Final Fight,” “Miss You,” and “Forever With Me,” are parts of a whole in this story, each representing different stages of heartbreak. “Final Fight” takes on the end of a relationship and the toxic cycle that it devolved into. “Miss You” is Gray’s unexplainable regret and urge to go back to the person that Found Heaven is about. “Forever With Me” tackles the bittersweet acceptance Gray had to face when this relationship ended. Each of these tracks feel like chapters in a book, each with distinguishable features but also common traits that thread them together.
Overall, Found Heaven is an artwork, a piece to be appreciated. The production, vocals, and lyrics of this album are more profound and raw than anything Gray has released before. With Found Heaven, Gray managed to create an 80s inspired pocket in time that displays his versatile talents and creativity. Found Heaven is truly a winner, a rose among the current music being released by other artists.
