Picture from @conangray’s Instagram
By Reese Petrie
With 18,152,974 monthly Spotify listeners, 528,444, 492 streams of his song “Heather,” and a #1 debut album in 2020, Conan Gray, at the young age of twenty-two, is on the rise with his indie-pop music.
In March 2020, Gray debuted his first studio album with Republic Records, and it wound up being a huge success. “Kid Krow” contains twelve songs and was the young artist’s biggest success of the year, and he has carried over the success into 2021. With two new songs this year, “Overdrive” and “Astronomy,” Conan Gray has made sure his name is heard, which he was quick to accomplish.
On Friday May 7th, 2021, Conan Gray released his newest single, “Astronomy.” The song covers a ‘somebody that I used to know’ trope. References to stars and planets give the song it’s mysterious title and makes for very metaphorical lyrics. One lyric that listeners have felt very connected to is, “It’s astronomy. We’re two worlds apart,” and this has made the song as relatable as Conan’s other popular pieces “Heather,” “Maniac,” and “Fake.”
The song was like fire, and when listening it felt like every emotion inside me was ignited. The idea that he explored in being afraid of the unknown, and how he uses his own experiences to write the lyrics was beautifully executed throughout the entire song. Within the chorus of the song, Gray uses past experiences in his lyrics, but he uses metaphors referencing space, the ocean, and stars (“We’ve traveled the seas. We’ve ridden the stars. We’ve seen everything. From Saturn to Mars”). The song brings so many different emotions together, so anyone listening can really feel what he felt in the process of making the song. In summary, if you liked this song, you would enjoy all of Conan’s music.
Obviously the song is not meant for everyone, so if you’ve found yourself listening to genres like rap, hiphop, and rock, this song is not for you. The song represents an emotional, heart-felt experience, and is definitely not within everyone’s range of what they may consider enjoyable.
If you’ve listened to “Astronomy,” other songs by Conan Gray you may enjoy are “Heather,” “The Story,” and “The Cut That Always Bleeds.” Some artists you may like if you enjoy indie-pop music are Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Calum Scott, and mxmtoon.
The song currently has over 3,000,000 streams, and got over 1,000,000 within the first twenty four hours the song had been released. Conan stated on his Instagram, “This song is a very precious and fragile piece of my soul, so thank you for all the care and love you’ve shown it already. I wrote this song about somebody who I’d loved for many years; suddenly I looked at them and realized I didn’t know them at all.” “Astronomy” has shown it will hold a big place in Gray’s career, and is such a beautiful and realistic song that many people will enjoy.
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