Conan Gray Opens up About Creating New Album Found Heaven
In a recent interview, Conan Gray opened up about creating his new album, Found Heaven. From writing in basements to the real-life stories behind the songs, the “Bourgeoisieses” singer spilled it all.
Gray sat down with Billboard to speak about his new music. Found Heaven is the singer-songwriter’s third studio album. The first announcement was in January; the record came out on April 5.
.@conangray opens up about love and heartbreak on his newly-released third studio album 'Found Heaven,' working with legendary producers like Max Martin and ILYA, sharing a love of pop punk with Olivia Rodrigo and more.
— billboard (@billboard) April 9, 2024
Watch his interview with #BillboardNews. pic.twitter.com/ihtAtBJZSc
The artist began creating the album while on his Superache tour. He described writing his songs after performing. Gray recalled, “I’d finish the shows, and then I would go into the basement of all of the venues that I would play because there’s always a piano in the basement.” He continued to explain, “I would just write songs while they were loading up the band.”
The singer revealed that the first song he wrote for the album was Found Heaven. The album’s title track sets the tone for the rest of the songs, exploring the theme of happiness and sadness being intertwined.
found heaven by conan gray pic.twitter.com/pkKWGNhyiw
— aanya ISA DAY (@hasthech4rm) April 5, 2024
Gray drew inspiration from his real-life experiences. “I wrote the album–a majority of the album–while I was falling in love for the first time,” the artist shared. “And so, it also like really affected how I made the music because I felt so different,” he added.
Furthermore, the vocalist gave insight into how that experience directly inspired certain songs. He confessed he wrote the track “Lonely Dancers” after being ghosted for the first time.
Gray also discussed creating “Alley Rose.” “I wrote the song about when I got officially dumped,” he revealed. “I’d been seeing this person and everything was great, and I was flying on my way to London to see them. Then, I got dumped by a text message while I was in the plane on my way,” the singer described.
“I was obviously devastated, and then I wrote a song. And the song was originally called ‘Abbey Road’ because I was in London,” Gray admitted. He explained how the track’s name came to be, noting, “But then I was like, I should probably not name my favorite song on the album after one of the greatest albums of all time.”
The artist settled on the name “Alley Rose” for the track, feeling the title was a perfect match after trying to think of a rhymed alternative. “Me and this person, our first kiss happened in an alleyway,” Gray shared. “Rose because when I think of love I think of roses. Superache was rose-themed,” he continued.
“So it’s like this love that existed super secretly, like the whole relationship was extremely secret. It was happening all in this like–in these alleys and these in-betweens, very hidden away from the world, but it was this rose that I really loved and really changed my life,” the vocalist further remarked.
The singer also opened up about how the necklace he wears connects to the album. The pendant features a teardrop with a star cutout and has also been used as a logo for the LP. Gray confessed, “The necklace to me is a reminder to myself that I have to take risks and I have to put myself out there.” He shared, “It’s a reminder that in all the things that make you cry, like the happiest moments of your life and the saddest moments of your life, there is a magic in the fact that you even got to experience it at all.”
Additionally, the artist addressed what it was like working with producer Max Martin. “Well, I think that like Max and ILYA and Oscar and like the MXM crew really kind of opened up my eyes and wings to all the kind of different sides of myself that I could try out,” Gray expressed. “We spent a lot of time just experimenting with like different voices or we’d be like ‘Okay, should I sing this as if I were some old British man?'” the singer recollected.
AND WHEN I SAY THIS IS CONAN GRAY’S BEST ALBUM, THEN WHAT. his voice and range is SO insane, every song is a smash hit, and the production is so drenched in the sound of the 80s that i would believe it was released then if u told me. the experimentation paid off big time. pic.twitter.com/s9oQ0kQRWb
— taylor found heaven (@foolishtaylor) April 5, 2024
Before the record’s release, Gray announced his tour. The artist created the album to perform onstage for fans. He explained, “I think, since I started it on tour, I very much had in mind like, ‘Oh, I want to be able to sing these songs in front of people.'” He continued to discuss his goals for the tour, stating, “My main takeaway is I want people to come to the show and feel like they’re free.”
When asked what he wanted from creating the album, Gray answered, “My biggest hope above all with this album is just to surprise people.” Then Gray asserted, “That’s what this album is to me. It’s me being surprised by the fact that I fell in love and then me surprising them with the fact that I fell in love.”
Found Heaven is available for listeners now. Fans can support Gray by streaming the album and watching the music video for “Lonely Dancers” below.
