With all things considered Conan Gray had a great 2020. The YouTuber made his mark as a pop force to be reckoned with, released debut album “Kid Krow” while the track “Heather” broke him onto the Official UK Top 40 singles chart. He also proved he’s a charismatic performer when recording live sessions for the Vevo DSCVR Artists To Watch series. And although Conan’s brand of alt-pop hasn’t always hit the mark with me, I do appreciate and notice he’s got the potential to go the full mile with the moody millennial pop fans at least. I was surprised that a track so darkly intense as “Heather” sparked such a reaction that it spent thirteen weeks on the UK Chart. Although when Conan lightens up a bit or adds in electronic elements, I tend to be more intrigued with him. It is a good thing Conan has recognised you don’t come through lockdowns by feeling sad or moping around. You do have to let the sunshine into your mind a little. So he switched gears and wrote the bop “Overdrive” as his first single release of 2021.
He describes the new single’s message of optimistic escapism,
“I wrote “Overdrive” to escape reality. I’ve spent the entire past year moping around alone in my house, I wanted to make something to get me to dance around my house. Something to belt into the showerhead and lose your worries to. Every time I turned it on to tweak production or change lyrics, I’d always just end up singing along and forgetting why I was so stressed— which is exactly what I hope this song is for the people who listen. Just a moment of reckless abandon and catharsis in a world filled with inhibition.”
What is Conan doing to us with this music video? Reminding us what life was like when we could hang out and shoot the breeze without a second thought? Spoiler alert, I heard on the news today, those times are coming back. Woohoo. Maybe Conan perfectly timed the “Overdrive” track and video releases after all.
Connect with Conan Gray
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