Superache

[wimpLink artistId="9042401"]Conan Gray[/wimpLink] is yearning for something more on his vibrantly realized sophomore album, 2022's [wimpLink albumId="234050369"]Superache[/wimpLink]. Once again produced with longtime collaborator Dan Nigro (along with some production by [wimpLink artistId="7179069"]Cirkut[/wimpLink] and co-writing contributions by [wimpLink artistId="6590715"]Julia Michaels[/wimpLink]), [wimpLink albumId="234050369"]Superache[/wimpLink] is a bigger, more robust record than 2020's [wimpLink albumId="134189358"]Kid Krow[/wimpLink], while still retaining, and in many ways expanding upon, the heartfelt diaristic qualities that made [wimpLink artistId="9042401"]Gray[/wimpLink] such a poster child for sad Internet teens. What's especially compelling about [wimpLink artistId="9042401"]Gray[/wimpLink]'s work on [wimpLink albumId="234050369"]Superache[/wimpLink] is just how well he combines big pop hooks with believable and personal lyrics. Much like his idol [wimpLink artistId="3557299"]Taylor Swift[/wimpLink], [wimpLink artistId="9042401"]Gray[/wimpLink] has the knack for crafting hooky, infectious anthems that also feel explicitly born out of his own life experience. At the core of the album is "Family Line," a poignant ballad about child abuse and generational trauma, all filtered through what clearly feels like his own personal story. It's the rawest song on a record full of openhearted honesty, one that grounds [wimpLink albumId="234050369"]Superache[/wimpLink] in an inescapable realness. [wimpLink artistId="9042401"]Gray[/wimpLink] brings an equal amount of authenticity to even his frothiest, most playful cross-genre moments, as on the driving, '80s dance-rock-sounding "Disaster," or the wry country hip-hop of "Best Friend." Particularly engaging is "Jigsaw," a song about the myriad ways people try to change themselves to please someone else in a relationship. Marrying his dove-eyed vocal coo to his band's chugging, '90s-style [wimpLink artistId="3565255"]Pixies[/wimpLink] guitar and drum wallop, [wimpLink artistId="9042401"]Gray[/wimpLink] sings, "Killin' parts of myself to fit you/Clear as sh*t I was not the issue/If I made you like me, would I even like myself?/Pointing out all my flaws doesn't help." It's that balance [wimpLink artistId="9042401"]Gray[/wimpLink] strikes on [wimpLink albumId="234050369"]Superache[/wimpLink] between plumbing his own candidly intimate fears and simultaneously pulling together all of his musical influences into his own distinctive sound that lends the album such magnetic, transformative power. On [wimpLink albumId="234050369"]Superache[/wimpLink], [wimpLink artistId="9042401"]Gray[/wimpLink] isn't just a charismatic conduit for young heartache; in the best sense of the term, he's a pop star. ~ Matt Collar