NEW YORK (AP) — Rejection serves as inspiration for angst and contemplation on pop singer Conan Gray’s wistful fourth album, “Wishbone,” out Friday. It is a return to form for Gray with 12 diaristic tracks that oscillate between bold heartbreak anthems and moments of tender reflection.
Discovered on YouTube in the early 2010s, Gray’s narrative pop earned him a place among the tastemakers of Gen Z music. He collaborated closely with producer Dan Nigro (known for his work with Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan ) on his first two albums. The 26-year-old’s most recent, 2024’s “Found Heaven,” was a departure from Nigro and the affective melancholy of his previous singer-songwriter releases. Swedish super-producer Max Martin produced many of that project’s well-received 80s-inspired tracks, which saw an adaptable Gray convey big emotions through sound, rather than story.
Nigro returns as the executive producer of “Wishbone.” Their reunion finds Gray comfortable but candid, as recurring characters, settings and symbols help him recount relationships atop a sonic landscape informed by his past releases.
Introduced with a trumpet’s call, “Romeo” details a destabilizing heartbreak. “I took the blade into my ribs,” Gray sings, taking inspiration from Shakespeare’s tragedy. His voice is pitched down to an almost robotic effect on the bridge: “Where art thou? I’m all alone now,” he sings. Unlike the teens pushed to violent ends in the Bard’s play, Gray and his 21st century Romeo meet their demise through more relatable means: egos, emotional manipulation and miscommunication. “Guess I was just your experiment!” Gray screams at the song’s midpoint, his voice cracking.
Romeo returns in “My World,” which opens with a preppy drum beat. Elsewhere, “Connell” approaches the self-inflicted pain of a break up: “You remind me of how good it feels to hurt,” Gray coos over strings and electric guitar, an unguarded voice replacing the angsty, spoken word cadence of “Romeo.”
Many of Gray’s lyrical stories are relatable, but some of the stickiest tracks are the ones that focus on his inner thoughts. The acoustic guitar and piano that start “Nauseous” is drowned out by Gray’s layered vocals as it takes on his fear of love and the childhood trauma that informs it. “Caramel,” with an ear-worm of a chorus set to electric guitar, describes the memories he can’t shake after a breakup. The intimate “Class Clown” reflects on Gray’s self-image — and how that school-born label feels relevant, still.
“Everything comes back around, I still feel like the class clown,” he lilts. While Gray struggles with his place, the way he deftly tackles those feelings in song proves he’s among the star pupils of his class.
