"Kid Krow" by Conan Gray paints a portrait of a young man in crisis
- MySweeterPlace
- 1 de abr. de 2020
- 5 min de leitura
Atualizado: 10 de abr.
Conan Gray: "Kid Krow"
Released: March 20, 2020
Label: Republic
Genre: indie pop, indie rock
Producers:
Dan Nigro, Conan Gray, Captain Cuts, Jam City
Writers:
Ben Berger, Conan Gray, Dan Nigro, Ryan McMahon, and Ryan Rabin
After his first successful EP, "Sunset Season," in 2018, Conan Gray is leveling up, as we expected. His debut album, "Kid Krow," is young, it's loud, it's Generation Z.
The record, written almost entirely by himself, is inspired by his painful childhood experiences, poverty, abuse and discrimination, ex-lovers, and friendship.
On "Comfort Crowd," he remembers when he had to leave his friends in Georgetown when he moved to Los Angeles and how painful it was. He just wanted a crowd of comfort from the group he saw every day. And that's what we all want. "Yeah, I just needed company now/ Yeah, I just needed someone around,/ Yeah, I don't care what song that we play/ Or mess that we make/ Just company now/ Comfort crowd." In the music video, directed by BRUME, Gray is alone in an abandoned house, where he eventually manages to kill and bury a clone of himself.
"Kid Krow" shines when Gray goes unapologetically pop. "Wish You Were Sober" proves that Conan Gray has everything it takes to be a star. "Why can't you tell me this when you're sober?" it's a relatable question, and that's all on this track. Here, Conan Gray reveals how he hates the party scene. He's talking to someone who only says they have feelings for him when they're drinking, and he wishes that talk would continue but sober. "Save me 'til the party is over / Kiss me in the seat of your Rover / Real sweet, but I wish you were sober."
"Manic" is another pop masterpiece about people who send out rumors. In particular, Conan's creation behind this track was a message from someone mistreating him. In the song's music video, directed by BRUME, the singer and English actress Jessica Barden are busy working the night shift at the theatre/cinema before fending off her psychotic ex-boyfriends who have risen from the dead.
After the explosive "Manic," we reached the first of the two interludes on the album (distinguished from the other tracks by parentheses surrounding the title).
"I can't help but imagine what maybe could've happened if you weren't just an online love," he triumphantly speaks, with a genuine way, on Gen Z worries.
"(Online Love)" reminds us of the Conan Gray raised by the Internet. The song deals with online love and long-distance relationships in only a beautiful and tenuous 36-seconds.
In "Checkmate," he's angry. The track is about an ex-lover who was playing with him. He uses a chess metaphor to prove he's not one of their fools. "Cry me a river' til you drown in the lake /' Cause you may think you're winning, but checkmate." In the song's music video, the singer tries to get as much "cathartic revenge" as possible, forcing him to kidnap the people who cheat on him and send them to a deserted island to starve to death.
The pain of love continues in the next one. "The Cut That Always Bleed" is about an arduous relationship to get over, and it seems that the person kept breaking his heart multiple times. "I don't love you anymore"/ A pretty line that I adore/ Five words that I've heard before." In the last part of the song, Conan admits to being weak with this person because he ends up coming back and suffering again despite always being hurt.
"(Ooh-ooh-ooh) But even though you're killing me, yeah/ (Ooh-ooh-ooh) I need you like the air I breathe/ (Ooh-ooh-ooh) I need, I need you more than me/ (Ooh-ooh-ooh) I need you more than anything/ (Ooh-ooh-ooh) Please, please."
"Fight or Flight" talks about finding out that someone has cheated on you or finding out someone has multiple people in their lives that you didn't know about, and this song is a response to that. "Well, fight or flight, I'd rather die than have to cry in front of you."
On "Affluenza," he criticizes society's preoccupation with material goods and captures a youthful sense of cynicism. Here, he says he grew up with little money and that when he moved to Los Angeles, many of his colleagues with favorable economic conditions were not so happy.
After this, we have the second interlude. "(Can We Be Friends?)" was written "from the perspective of what I would say to my best friends back home, a love letter towards platonic friendship," he said to Apple Music. "I feel like friendship is something that is never really talked about in music ever. It's always love, and there's no one on earth that I love more than my friends", he revels.
When we reach "Heather," things are brutal honesty. It's one of the highlights, for sure. The song talks about Conan being in love with someone in love with Heather. He talks about frustration and jealously and how he has a love/hate relationship with Heather, wanting to be her. "Put your arm' round her shoulder; now I'm getting colder / But how could I hate her? She's such an angel / But then again, kinda wish she were dead." The track gets more emotional as it continues.
"Little League" talks about simpler times and nostalgia. Although usually referring to a youth baseball organization, the words Little League represent the old days.
Closing the album, Conan Gray tells us "The Story" of his life before fame with emotional vocals and powerful messages. "Let me tell you a story about a boy and a girl/It's kinda short, kinda, boring, but the end is a whirl." He doesn't hold back on revealing how bullying can damage entire lives: "They were just 16 when the people were mean, so they didn't love themselves / And now they're gone, headstones on a lawn." He knows the universe is cruel, but he also believes in faith. "Oh, and I'm afraid that's just the way the world works / But I think that it could work for you and me / Just wait and see; it's not the end of the story."
In the second part of the song, our hearts break." Now it's on to the sequel about me and my friend/ Both our parents were evil, so we both made a bet/ If we worked and we saved, we could both run away/ And we'd have a better life, and I was right/ I wonder if she's alright." That's hard, Gray.
There are no skips on the album. "Kid Krow" touches on an issue that people — however the age- can relate to somehow.
Comments