I’m nearing the end of my childhood experience and will, at some point, have to leave the nest and tend to adult responsibilities like taxes, bills, and higher education. I will admit, as a high school senior, the closer graduation gets, the more the old Conan Gray songs speak to me. “Checkmate” is a revenge-bop worthy of the most jilted lovers, and yet, it manages to do so without coming across as psychotic or, perhaps, too jilted. The first of this transition was “Checkmate.” Gray’s signature style of genuineness tinged with rebelliousness remains apparent without his trademark suburban nostalgia, marking a new era of growth for the singer. “Lookalike” showcases Gray’s narrative skills reminiscent of Red-era Taylor Swift, and Gray does a stellar job of increasing the intensity of the lyrics with the swell of the melody, culminating in a classic heartbreak song for generations to come.Īfter the release of “Sunset Season,” Gray began to evolve his sound, pivoting from dream pop to pop-rock.
With minimal production, Gray’s vocals and lyricism truly shine through. The EP opens with “Idle Town,” which perfectly captures the teenage desire to spread one’s wings and explore the outside world.Īnother personal favorite of “Sunset Season” is the song “Lookalike,” a soulful ballad about lost, unrequited high school love.
CHECKMATE CONAN GRAY ART FREE
Gray has a special knack for capturing Gen Z’s frustration and disgust with the world today and turning it into a relatable narrative about breaking free from suburbia, representing the constricting confines of the status quo.Įvery track of Gray’s debut EP, “Sunset Season,” speaks to a different part of adolescence. And “Crush Culture,” a pop, rebellious song, exposes America’s obsession with love - and Gray’s distaste for it. His song “Generation Why,” serves as a plaintive rallying anthem for millennials and older Gen Z-ers who feel ignored and belittled in today’s political discussions. Part of the magic of Gray’s earlier works is the sense of coming-of-age nostalgia apparent in each song.
Then, it all changed in 2017 when Gray released “Idle Town.” It quickly became a hit and, later that year, Gray was accepted to the University of California Los Angeles and signed a record deal with Republic Records. For the next three years, Gray would continue to grow his YouTube channel, talking about college life, vlogging, and amassing an army of subscribers in the process. Gray started his music career innocuously, first posting covers on his YouTube channel in 2014. In the past two years, Gray has skyrocketed to stardom. in 2019.įrom a small town in Texas to playing in stages nationwide, Conan Gray has come a long way. In the chorus, he lyrically dives head-first into the metaphor: “‘Cause I’ve gotten tired of the games that you play/ When you tell me you love me then you throw me away/ So cry me a river ’til you drown in a lake/ ‘Cause you may think you’re winning but checkmate.Conan Gray 2019 / Lucy Films / Wikipedia Commons / CC BY 3.0Ĭonan Gray performs at U Street Music Hall, Washington, D.C. He mentions other dating clichés, like thinking you’re exclusive and then watching your partner flirt with others.
“You think you’re funny, right?/ Calling me drunk when it’s too late at night/ Telling me truths that you know are all lies,” Gray sings. If you wanna cheat on me with my best friend, I’m gonna trick you into thinking I don’t know, then kidnap you both and send you to starve on a deserted island so you can spend the rest of you short lives alone together (just like you wanted). “If you wanna treat love like a game, I’m gonna win it. “In the ‘Checkmate’ music video, I finally get revenge for all the times I got played with in a relationship,” Gray said in a press release. Love’s a game, as Conan Gray perfectly puts into words with his song “Checkmate,” the video for which is out today (July 25).
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