On Aug. 15, 2025, Conan Gray released his fourth studio album titled “Wishbone”, with its lead single “Vodka Cranberry.” This album follows a deeper and more emotional feel than his previous release album, “Found Heaven”, which had a much more upbeat flow. When it comes to this album, one of the best things about it is the theme. The whole basis of luck, such as black cats, lucky numbers, and of course, wishbones, plays in a relationship. This entire album is one of his best works he’s done in his career, and when it comes to theming all the way down to the writing, it is an overall masterpiece.
The theme of this album is amazing, especially in the way Gray took advantage of it and didn’t hold back, not just the music itself, but also incorporating the theme of luck into the story writing of this entire album as well. To announce his album, Gray released “Vodka Cranberry” as well as a music video that really got his fans excited. Not only was the song amazing with his stunning vocals and deeply emotional sound, but the story of the song is gripping and tragic.
The story of this song tells of him falling in love with someone who is losing interest in him completely, and he is trying to come to terms with that. The music video displays this in stunning cinematography, where it shows Gray, along with his co-star Corey Fogelman, starting in a romantic state, but as the video goes on, we see glimpses of Fogelman losing interest and Gray trying to keep the flame going, but it isn’t working.
The video switches back and forth between happy moments of their relationship to the current moment, where you can clearly see the relationship has become one-sided, ultimately leading to Fogelman leaving Gray, and then the video ends. This was an amazing way to start an upcoming album, as it was not only an excellent song and visual, but it also left fans with much anticipation for the music and story.
When the album was released, the first song introduced on the album was titled “Actor.” The song is a strong emotional start, with a message alluding to the music videos where Gray is singing about a lover that he has separated from, talking about how they are both pretending not to still be in love anymore.
This song is phenomenal in terms of melody and lyrics, as well as the perfect start to the story that goes along with it.
The next songs on the album are “This Song”, “Romeo” and “My World.” These songs are about how he has feelings for his lover and going through the different emotions of a breakup. Despite still having feelings, these songs express different ways to show them. These songs have a mix of upbeat and emotion that is given to the listener through amazing lyrics and a catchy rhythmic tune. They each express the different emotional responses that come from this, making these three amazingly written and memorable songs.
After those three, the vibes of the album switch back to a deeper feel with the songs “Class Clown”, “Nauseous” and “Caramel.”
“Class Clown” is a very calm song, but with heartwrenching lyrics. The song talks about how he hides behind his emotion by bringing happiness to others as a way of hiding his pain. Lyrically, this song is stunning, along with its lovely melody. It is a beautiful piece.
“Caramel” is the song that was mentioned before, being the continuation of the story that went along with the album. This song is a turn in the album as it uses a more upbeat sound along with lyrics that talk about how his lover is sweet and addictive.
The last three songs in the album “Sunset Tower”,”Eleven Eleven” and “Care.”
“Sunset Tower” is about how he is still stuck on a past lover, and he doesn’t want to know if he is doing well without him because he can’t handle that type of emotional pain.
Although the melody doesn’t stand out as much as the other songs, it is very rich lyrically. “Eleven Eleven”, the second-to-last song on the album, stands out because it is the song that really tells the theme of the album.
It is about how he longs for a past relationship he is in, and he will continue to wish on things such as wishbones, clovers, angel numbers, and eleven eleven in hopes of getting that relationship back. The song not only gives the idea of what Gray was trying to convey with the theme of this album, but also has extremely clever lyrics with a melody that builds up towards striking your emotions.
The final song is titled “Care.” This song gives the conclusion to the album about how Gray is starting to accept that the relationship he longs for is gone, but no matter what, he will never not care. The lyrics state that even though there is still a part of him that cares about his lover, he has found some happiness in simply lingering in the past. This song is the perfect way to end the album, as it gives the listeners a conclusion to the story “Wishbone” is trying to tell through amazing lyrics and gripping vocals.
This album is one of Gray’s best works as it shows off all his talents, from story writing, impressive musical ability, and his intense and impressive vocals. “Wishbone” is one of the best albums of the era, and hopefully, more of his astounding art gets recognized and gets the flowers it deserves as time goes on.
