Conan Gray’s Wishbone: Where Melancholy And Magic Align

After releasing his 80s styled 3rd studio album, Found Heaven, back in 2024, Conan Gray unexpectedly returns just over a year later, revealing the deeper, darker side of his past lover.

Gray takes a narrative approach, beginning the album with more angst and frustration, like words spilling out with no coherent thought behind them. Progressing through the album, we hear more softer, deeper tracks, filled with emotionally gut wrenching lyrics. That consistent use of a melancholic tone? It pulls the album close, allowing us to see the immense growth within the popstar. Using the metaphor of a wishbone, Gray describes himself writing this album as “pessimistic”, feeling as if relationships act as a bet, one person wins with the long end, acting as a leaver, whilst the other is left with the short end, a loser. Through the intense honesty of this album, it’s evident Gray felt as if he was at the real short end of the stick. After realisation, identification of the parts of him he kept hidden below the surface, and coming face to face with the parts of him he claimed to fear, he realised that maybe, he ended up with the long end of the stick after all.

Acting as a summary, ‘Actor’ opens the album, with slow acoustic guitar strums offering weight: instantly turning up an ache within listeners, setting the theme for the album. The track acts as a narrative, summarising Gray’s relationship with his ex. Almost immediately, Gray steals our hearts, through the repetitive lyric, “nobody saw us”, highlighting the secretiveness that occurred. The chorus, however, frames the popstar as a lyrical genius. “The church bells won’t stop ringing for an undead wedding day”, leaves the audience questioning. What church bells? What undead wedding day? The line is intensely polysemic. The “church bells” being associated with a wedding, a public declaration of love. In this context, they are used for an “undead wedding day”, a union that exists in form but not spirit, toiling for something that never truly happened. It’s safe to say that with ‘Actor’ opening the album, it successfully reveals that Gray, instead of hiding, is leaning towards the more fragile truth of his past relationship.

Fading into the singles for the album, ‘This Song’ and ‘Vodka Cranberry’ offer two wholes - ‘This Song’ being a complete love song, offering listeners an insight to the love the pair shared. Contrasting, ‘Vodka Cranberry’ cuts deep, acting as an untied thread of self-sabotage and fear of being hurt. Each song plays a completely different purpose in the album but solely acts as a whole, showing us the lack of stability the relationship held.

Even though the majority of the album holds heavy weight, the tracks ‘Romeo’ and ‘My World’ shift to a more lighter tone. Whilst still holding parts of heartbreak, they walk with more angst. ‘Romeo’ frames Gray’s annoyance and frustration, referencing one of the most tragic love stories of all time, Romeo and Juliet. Taking the character Romeo, from Romeo and Juliet, Gray juxtaposes the lovesick boy to his past lover, framing them as opposites - “You’re no Romeo”. Quite frankly, the track is iconic. ‘My World’ is Conan Gray’s main character moment. As he describes it, it’s his “walk out song”. Using consistent mockery and humour towards his ex, it portrays the more freeing side of Gray. Together, rather than leaning into raw feelings, they offer playfulness - angst, sarcasm and humour tied together as one - showing Gray’s lighter artistry.

Turning down anguish and turning up ache, ‘Class Clown’ and ‘Nauseous’ frame the album’s key darker undertones. Those references to his childhood? It pieces the album together - offering relatability to fans, describing the way difficult childhoods can change the aspect of love later on in life. Childhood lingers, carrying the weight of things left unsaid in relationships. The lyric “I know that it’s in me to really love someone but that’s not a thing I learned from my loved ones” from the track ‘Nauseous’ summarises this exact feeling - cutting in deep and scathing like a punch to the gut.

‘Caramel’ is a unique but intense metaphor for relationships. It portrays relationships as something that starts out sweet, but before you know it, they can become burnt and distasteful. Again, it summarises the complexity of feelings that arise when returning to a past lover, until it turns ‘sticky’. ‘Connell’ then fades in - turning down the upbeat sonics of ‘Caramel’ and increasing heartache. The track highlights the effect of the relationship on Gray, not being loved back equally in the way you love someone is exhausting. Not being dramatic, just true. The slow strums offer weight, with less noise, tracing the idea of losing yourself in a romantic sense - describing the fevering, lingering feelings of devastation post-relationship.

‘Sunset Tower’ walks with angst, “I wish you the best but I hope that you die inside every time I’m playing in London”. It captures the very specific feeling during the aftermath of a relationship, anger, love, heartache all mixed into one tangled thread. Sonically, the song comes across as uplifting, however, contrasting, lyrically it comes across as devastating. Acting as a signature sound for Gray, we also see this in ‘Care’, revealing the nauseating experience of the struggle of moving on - as if Gray is somewhat locked in the past, unable to bear the thought of loving another. 

‘Eleven Eleven’ offers a nostalgic feel, bringing in the concept of wishbones and other wishing rituals. It summarises the feeling of being trapped - like a ‘closed loop’ of thoughts - unable to move on, the continuous wishing for this person back. Reminiscing on the past, “Shooting star on the night we first kiss”, it shows the struggle of acceptance. It’s safe to say, Gray was truly lovesick with his past lover.

8 months after the initial release of ‘Wishbone’, we see growth (kind of). Gray released ‘Wishbone Deluxe’ in April, with songs written after the release of ‘Wishbone’, this allows us listeners to see a retrospective view of the relationship. In ‘Wishbone’, we see Gray’s anger, heartbreak and fear all mixed into one, whilst with ‘Wishbone Deluxe’, we see realisation come around, that Gray wasn’t the only one hurting in this relationship, somewhat sympathetic, “I would of got it in my head that it’s not about me, whilst I was scared of being left you were scared of being seen” and “Don’t that explain why were so afraid of love?”. Whilst showing an aspect of moving on, we still gain the sense of wishing for the past lover back, “The door is closed, but the windows open”, “I will always be your friend”.

In summary, ‘Wishbone’ is filled with angst and heartache, contrasting, ‘Wishbone Deluxe’ is filled with more acceptance and understanding. It’s safe to say that with the release of ‘Wishbone’ Gray is soaring, embarking on 2 tours with this album, ‘Wishbone Pyjama shows’ and the ‘Wishbone World Tour’. Arguably, ‘Wishbone’ is Gray’s most intricate album yet.