Conan Gray is ready to make all of our hearts melt yet again with his latest release, “Winner.” The pop maven has made a name for himself with his deeply emotional tunes. “Winner” is perhaps his most raw yet.
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There’s no one who ever has done better / At making me feel worse / Now you really are the winner / Yeah, there’s nothing that ever did quite kill me / More than what you did, Gray sings in the lush chorus.
[RELATED: From “Idle Town” to “Heather,” Conan Gray Doesn’t Want to Sugar-coat Himself]
Mixed in between his pure pop tones are flourishes of Queen-esque guitar lines and pounding drums. The musical direction only bolsters Gray’s emotional capacity.
“I wrote this song at 2 a.m.,” Gray said in a statement. “Everything at the piano just spilled out all at once. It was a moment where I finally felt like, ‘Fine. Great job. You did it. You hurt me more than anybody ever could hurt me.’
“It oddly felt nice,” he added. “I see now that there is a certain freedom that comes from recognizing that you’ve been hurt. In no longer running, and just facing the fact that ‘You win. You hurt me.’ I hope this song helps people find a little piece of that freedom.”
Gray previewed the track at Outside Lands Music Festival earlier this month. Fans became interested in the unreleased song to the point where Gray decided to give the song a proper release.
Gray worked with Greg Kurstin–who is known for his work with Adele, Gorillaz, and Sia–for production. Check out the track, below.
The song follows on from Gray’s other recent release, “Never Ending Song.” The track has already amassed nearly 40 million global streams. Gray shared a music video alongside “Never Ending Song.” Check that out, HERE.
Photo by Keith Oshiro / Republic Records
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