Conan Gray debuted as a musical force to be reckoned with on TikTok in 2020 with his smash hit, “Heather.” Now, he’s back with his third album, Superache, which was released on June 24. 

Gray’s music can be folksy, breathy, and heartbreaking. Taylor Swift’s fandom looks at Gray, as well as Olivia Rodrigo, as the disciples, at least musically, of Taylor Swift. While I’m not sure if this album delivered a “Swift sound” more than any folksy album about heartbreak, it did sound a great deal like the male counterpart to Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour. 

Superache was a mixed bag for me. Surprisingly, the songs that were the most played on the album were the least impressive to me. He has some songs in this album that are worth skipping, but he also has some absolutely breathtaking symphonies that would be shameful to miss.

“Family Line” was my favorite song from this album. It’s absolutely heartbreaking, as Gray describes how his father abused his mother, how she took him and left, and how all of that impacted him over the years. I also enjoyed how he described what he inherited from each parent, explaining in the lyric “I’m so good at telling lies, that came from my mother’s side, told a million to survive.” 

The line, “How could you hurt a little kid? I can’t forget, I can’t forgive you. Cause now I’m scared that everyone will leave,” was the heart of this song. “Family Line” is ultimately a heart-wrenching tale of the burdens Gray has inherited from his parents’ mistakes. 

The song “Memories” was the nicest way I’ve heard someone tell their ex to leave them alone. Gray is pleading with his ex to let him move on, singing, “I’m trying to get over this, I wish that you would stay in my memories. But you show up today, just to ruin things.” 

This was my favorite song by Gray vocally — I didn’t even notice the power of Gray’s voice until this song and had goosebumps by the end. He changes speed and pacing three times over the course of the song, and his voice exceeds the challenge of each instrumental shift. 

“Best Friend” is a love song for friendships. I enjoyed the slow pace of this song and how it speeds up as tension builds. Unlike a lot of songs about friendship, this song manages to not be cliched, and is instead candid and even humorous as Gray describes how much his best friend means to him.  

“Yours” is a heartbreaking tale of unrequited love. Gray paints a portrait of a one-sided relationship, in which he gives everything to a person who doesn’t view Gray as a romantic counterpart, and instead takes advantage of his feelings. 

The end of this song was the most painful part, as he ends with a sudden rush of passion that fizzles out with the song’s conclusion. The final lyric “What the f*** did I do in the end just to not be yours?” was a powerful way to end the song. 

“Jigsaw” made me concerned about the way that Gray approaches interpersonal relationships. In the beginning, he describes all the ways he’d change or even hurt himself to earn an unachievable person’s love. This song reminded me strongly of Olivia Rodrigo’s sound, specifically “Brutal” or “Traitor.” “Jigsaw” depicts the distraught state Gray finds himself in after a toxic relationship. 

“Footnote” describes Gray trying to cope with being a “footnote” in the story of the person he loves. The line “So I’ll stop being pretentious and resenting our friendship, you taught me feelings are reckless,” really stuck out to me — it’s haunting and heart-wrenching in all the right ways.

Superache ultimately exceeded my expectations. I did not know too much about Gray before listening to this album, outside of the lore tying him to Swift and his hit “Heather.” However, Gray has certainly made a fan out of me. For fans of Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo, I urge you to go and check out Gray’s new album Superache.