Conan Gray has released the highly anticipated pop album, “Found Heaven.” “Found Heaven” is Gray’s third studio release, ricocheting off of his second album, “Superache”, which was released two years prior. Gray found himself stepping out into a different genre of music, as he states in the interview with Zach Sang, “It is definitely a pop album, and it’s definitely up-tempo, and very synth. It’s very much me being as ridiculous as possible, and not limiting myself in the slightest.”
Zach Sang asked the heartwrenching question, “What is Heaven?“ Gray responds, “The album title to me is basically a double entendre.” Gray proceeded, “Found Heaven has two meanings to me, and I think Found Heaven is finding your own happiness.” Allowing emotions to flow in, Gray becomes very vulnerable throughout this album, sharing his personal experience of loving for the first time in the past year.
“Found Heaven” at first glance may seem to be a common pop album about a breakup, although it is much more. “Found Heaven” runs through the ideas of gathering all the feelings of a relationship, truly deciphering the definite meaning behind love, and finding yourself afterward, all while being an experimental masterpiece solely workshopped from the mind of Conan Gray.
“Found Heaven”, the title song, encapsulates a journey from self-doubt and external rejection to self-acceptance and the realization that love is redeeming. Gray evolves the message from the song into a form of heavenly redemption, indicated by the lyrics, “You found heaven.” These lyrics suggest that true peace and happiness come from accepting one’s identity and the capacity of love, discarding the external factors that a person may face; “Found Heaven” depicts a battle and struggle between loneliness and false identity, hinting at a sense of lost isolation.
Conan Gray’s “Never Ending Song” is a masterpiece, using the music video to their advantage. Within the music video, Conan Gray is seen stepping inside a supermarket with the intercoms playing the song at hand, “Never Ending Song”; Conan Gray uses the environment by adding in-store announcements and cash register beeps, adding a sense of realism to the music video and relating it to the song. “Never Ending Song” suggests that some people, Conan Gray, in this case, continue endless longing and wanting for something that simply cannot be stopped. Furthermore, the longing could be considered a relationship, wanting it to continue and fully develop. The long wishing ties into the music video, as Gray is seen to be endlessly dancing until the very end of the video, even grabbing others to perform with him.
“Lonely Dancers’” is the fourth song on “Found Heaven”, with a music video based around the comfort and connection gathered through dancing with someone during lonely and dark times. “Lonely Dancers” has lyrics that express feelings such as heartbreak, loneliness, and the desire to forget the past, which may involve ex-lovers and the pain that comes along with it. Additionally, the music video features Gray and other dancers performing in a half-lit room, surrounded by various sets of mirrors and neon lights; this atmosphere is created that gives off the idea and feeling of introspection and escape. “It’s essentially a song about when we first started dating, and then I first got ghosted. It was like the first time and I was like, “Wait a minute, what’s going on?” Gray expresses this through a speech, via Instagram.
Gray performed “Alley Rose” live on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the night of the album’s release. “Alley Rose” strikes listeners as the song’s message resonates with regret and deep desperation in love, and a relationship. Gray expresses the loneliness that is felt after his ex-lover leaves him abruptly, using this song as a call-out or a platform to express his emotions and feelings. Through the lyrics, Conan Gray recalls the connection that was once shared, reflecting on the emotional reflections of the relationship as they have changed him for better, or worse.
“Found Heaven” is much more than an album. “Found Heaven” is a journey that circles around the profound questions of love, identity, and vulnerability. Conan Gray echoes the experiences of his own story, as he articulates the themes that sit inside of a desperate relationship; “Found Heaven” invites listeners to navigate through the complexities of love and self-discovery, all while being as vulnerable as possible. Gray ends the album with overwhelming feelings swirling all around, solidifying his identity and increasing his overall pop maturity within the music industry.
