Conan Gray Releases Sophomore Album ‘Superache’
Conan Gray on the artwork for his sophomore album, Superache.
American singer and songwriter Conan Gray has released his highly-anticipated sophomore album, Superache. The record comes two years after the release of his debut project, Kid Krow, which garnered a lot of attention, with songs like “Heather” and “Wish You Were Sober” shooting up the charts. He continues to invest in the same pop sound but uses a more sophisticated approach to his songwriting this time.
With a total duration of a little over 40 minutes and divided into 12 tracks, Superache is a concise project. Still, the record gives Gray enough space to reflect on modern life. His lyrics describe what it’s like to be a 20-something-year-old discovering that relationships are a little more complicated than they once seemed. The first two songs, “Movies” and “People Watching,” illustrate this vividly, with lines about wanting to live in a fictional love story, yet at the same time waiting for it to become a reality.
His newest single, “Disaster,” is a hand-painted picture of Gray’s insecurities and demonstrates his cleverness as a songwriter. While the verses are rather short, the chorus is wordy, making it hard to sing along to. But that is no detriment to the track as the singer delivers on-point vocals with every beat. It’s one of those songs that feels like a book whose plot is impossible to guess, yet you can’t put it down because the ride is enjoyable.
Alongside the new tracks is the already known “Astronomy,” which was praised by none other than Taylor Swift last year when she called the song “ethereal.” Like his best friend Olivia Rodrigo, Gray has confessed to drawing inspiration from Swift’s works, which is more evident in the lyrics of “Astronomy” than in any other track on the album. Cinematic storytelling seems to be working as well for the new generation as it did for Swift when she started her career.
Undoubtedly, Gray is part of a new batch of artists who successfully combine upbeat pop songs with deep lyricism. Despite this pop recipe, Gray also slips in some slow piano ballads. In the personal “Family Line,” the singer opens up about his childhood and his relationship with his family (“I’m so good at telling lies, that came from my mother’s side.”) Ironically, being honest is not a problem for the singer. In an interview with Paper Magazine, he admitted, “The very fact that it’s uncomfortable for me to talk about it is the reason I have to talk about it… It’s better to feel something than to just live your whole life hiding from feeling anything.”
Most of the songs on the album were co-written and produced by Dan Nigro, who is also responsible for Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour. Julia Michaels also shares songwriting credits on three of the twelve songs in the standard version of the record. Gray is the co-writer for all tracks.
In support of the album, the singer will embark on his first world tour later this year. The Superache Tour is set to begin on September 16 in Louisville, KY, with additional dates scheduled around North America. The singer will then perform in Australia and New Zealand.
Listen to Superache:
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