By: Gretchen Hartenstein
In my experience, there are very few things better than listening to a brand new album from top to bottom and realizing that you haven’t had to skip a single song. Magical, right? For me, it’s a rare phenomenon nowadays and I’ve grown used to passing off numbers of tracks as just “eh.” Now that I write that out, I sound like a real goody two shoes. I promise I’m just picky.
Found Heaven struck me as I listened through it for the first time whilst sprawled out on the Amy Green, making my way through pages of wildlife ecology notes on one of the first spring-like days of the season. I’m not an avid Conan Gray listener, mostly because I suffer from an aversion to trendy artists, but “Crush Culture” and of course “Maniac” were nevertheless part of the soundtrack to my high school years. In working to combat that somewhat judgy mindset, I cued up this album and let it play from top to bottom.
My favorite thing about Found Heaven and what keeps me coming back to it is the blanket of 80’s-style, almost psychedelic, pop-rock that this album is wrapped in. Each synth-ridden track is consistent in that heavy, techno feel that you don’t see in today’s music anymore because it’s so characteristically 80’s. Even the cover art takes you back to that era, as Gray models the restless, leather-clad, long-haired pop stars of our parents’ generation.
The title track feels like the prelude for the album, grounding you, inviting you to see what’s to come. It’s the perfect opener, which is why I encourage you to stay away from the shuffle button with this one. I may not be a creator myself, but I believe there’s an art to putting together a tracklist and each placement is made for a reason so just trust the process. If you’re like me, “Found Heaven” will leave you wondering if you’ve just been dropped into an episode of Stranger Things.
As a whole, I wouldn’t consider this album lyrically dense. It explores themes of lost love, found love, mourning, hurt, heartbreak…you get the idea. But it’s those little bits of songwriting genius sprinkled here and there that stop me in my tracks and make me go “Oh…I felt that.” Take “Alley Rose” and “Winner” for example. Both are set to simple, yet emotional tracks that pack the lyrics with an even heavier punch. I like to say that “Alley Rose” is a hybrid of poetry and narrative. Listening to it feels like reading a novel. It’s a beautiful tale of gut-wrenching passion, with imagery powerful enough to drop you right into our main character’s shoes. “Winner” is a little less poetic in comparison and I would place it in the category of “power ballad” (keeping with the 80’s theme here) but I’m sure we can all relate to the first chorus lines:
The only thing you’ve proven
Is that there’s no one
Who ever has done better
At makin’ me feel worse
Now you really are the winner
“Never Ending Song” is the driving-at-night-in-the-summer song that I have been waiting for. Its addictive drum beat and shimmering keyboard melody give it a feel that I can only describe as celestial and it begs to be enjoyed under a blanket of stars. I’m lucky to have had the chance to enjoy it as such. It took on extra meaning for me this past semester, at a time when I was forced to say farewell to friends who graduated, bringing me back to the unpleasant reality that somehow I’m expected to continue college without them. It really hits once I get to the bridge, and the lines,
Can you make us stay forever
Are we done?
Can you make it play
On and on and on
I will admit that these lines have made my eyes suddenly well up in the middle of vibing to this upbeat anthem. I have a feeling that “Lonely Dancers” is going to be another song for my summer playlist, with its techno beat and “Safety Dance”-esque feeling. It has the ability to make us feel seen with just a few lines:
We’re lonely dancers
Join me for the night
We’re lonely dancers, baby
Dance with me so we don’t cry
It’s the kind of song that you find yourself swaying to even when the world is burning around you, barely keeping it together and all the while choosing to forget about everything anyway. The world stops for two and a half minutes each time you put it on…go watch the music video and you’ll see what I mean. In my experience and opinion, it’s rare for a music video to truly embody how it feels to listen to a song. “Lonely Dancers” is spot on, to the point where I could predict what was going to happen in the video because it simply felt like it needed to be there.
It’s very difficult to have a favorite song from this album, but my consistent heavy-hitter has to be “Forever With Me.” The first time I heard it, I didn’t listen to the lyrics too closely but I found my eyes full of tears at the beauty in this modern day power ballad. Yes, it hits harder than “Alley Rose” and “Winner.” I don’t know whether to say “you’re welcome” or “I’m sorry.” Whatever sounds better, I suppose.
I admit it: I’m a big sap. From that first listen, I was starting to wonder if I should put this on my internal list of potential wedding songs. But then I paid a little more attention to what Gray is actually saying with these lyrics…and I cried all over again. “Forever With Me” is that beautiful wedding anthem…just turned on its head. What I first thought was a “you’re-my-soulmate-I’ll-love-you-forever” song actually turned out to be a “you’re-gone-and-I’m-never-getting-over-you” song. Every line is a contradiction, but nevertheless a contradiction that somehow makes sense. Lyrically, it’s pure genius. And the track has all the musical ingredients for a killer ballad: piano as the base, a wailing electric guitar, drums slowly getting more prominent as the song goes on, a splash of auxiliary percussion, and finally, a staggering key change. As someone who is a sucker for a good key change, I still wind up on the floor every so often when I hear this part.
In talking with friends about the album, I’ve found that “Bourgeoisieses” is an unexpected fan favorite. I think it’s the biggest outlier on the album, a funky little tune consisting mainly of kickdrums, synth, and a bit of bass guitar. While the other tracks tell painful stories of heartbreak and love, no one really seems to know what “Bourgeoisieses” is about. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first, but the more I listened to it, the more I realized that it breaks up the spell of sadness from the earlier tracks. Beautiful as they are, I found that it was a welcome pause in that theme. Maybe it’s the pure quirkiness the song exudes or the catchy beat underlying the lyrics that makes it such a beloved song among listeners. Whatever it is, I can proudly say that I love “Bourgeoisieses” just as much as the next person…and I still can’t spell it without some help from the internet.
To get back to the big picture, I believe there are a lot of simple elements of this album that have drawn me in. The lyrical themes and musical elements are satisfyingly synthetic. I’m usually a fan of complex lyrics but the funny thing with Found Heaven is that its themes are not at all outlandish. In fact, you could even consider them ordinary. But it’s the way that the album is put together and the creative elements are threaded through it that makes it truly remarkable and addictive. At a time when songs are getting longer and longer, each track is arguably short, averaging about two and a half minutes. In a way, I find this refreshing and I like that I can listen to a full album in just under 37 minutes.
And with that, I’d like to end this review in the simplest way I know how…
Why are you still here? Go listen.
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Because I couldn’t add them all…here’s my favorite bits of Conan Gray genius:
Found Heaven: “Don’t be scared, little child/ You’re no demon”
Never-Ending Song: “Can you make us stay forever/ Are we done?/ Can you make it play/ On and on and on”
Fainted Love: “I’m the worst if you want it”
Lonely Dancers: “Dance with me so we don’t cry”
Alley Rose: “And I thought if you’d ever leave me/ That I’d be the reason why”
The Final Fight: “And I came right back after growin’/ Yet you’re still the same”
Miss You: “I never meant to break your heart”
Bourgeoisieses: “Mom and dad got my back/ But I don’t need that, I need a Maserati”
Forever With Me: “And after all this time I wonder why you’re still with me/Well, at least in all my memories”
Eye Of The Night: “The memories that I cannot ignore/Fight for my life inside a silent war”
Boys & Girls: “You got a face that’s technologic/ Nobody cares that you’re psychotic”
Killing Me: “I wanna die but you keep me alive/ You’re killin’ me, you’re killin’ me”
Winner: “How do I somehow feel guilty/ When you’re the one who let it get this bad?”
