Conan Gray Shares a New Story in ‘Vodka Cranberry’
Conan Gray has never shied away from laying his heart bare. His music has always been about making the personal feel universal. Thus, the new single, “Vodka Cranberry,” is no exception.
It follows the vulnerability of the lead track “This Song.” Gray leans further into heartbreak territory with a song that feels both delicately specific and achingly familiar.
“Vodka Cranberry” is classic Conan with melancholy, melody, and wrapped in just enough pop shimmer. It makes the sadness go down easily. But it’s also sharper, more distilled. There’s a clarity in the way he details the slow-motion fallout of a crumbling relationship. Thus, it seems like his lyrics are a snapshot from the last days of a romance he’s still trying to make sense of. The emotional weight comes quickly and quietly. “Speak up. Don’t leave me waiting. Got way too drunk off a vodka cranberry,” he sings.
“Vodka Cranberry” Continues Long-Standing Partnership
Additionally, the accompanying video, directed by Danica Kleinknecht, deepens the sense of emotional erosion. Gray stars alongside longtime friend and actor Corey Fogelmanis. The chemistry between the two is intentionally tangled. What starts as a breezy road trip gradually morphs into something more uncertain. So, the tension simmers just beneath the surface. Glances become guarded. Smiles falter. You start to sense that they’re not driving toward something, but away from it.
There’s a standout moment in a bar scene, where Gray and Fogelmanis share a drink under warm, intimate lighting. It feels like a temporary return to something real. Yet, the illusion cracks fast. Fogelmanis’s gaze drifts elsewhere, and the moment collapses under the weight of what’s no longer being said. By the time he walks off with another girl and drives away alone. It’s not just a breakup. It’s an ending Gray saw coming but hoped he was wrong about. The final image of Conan Gray left standing, silent and still, is crushing in its simplicity.
Conan Gray and Bringing The Edge In The New Song
What gives “Vodka Cranberry” its edge is how unafraid it is to sit with discomfort. Thus, there’s no dramatic blow-up, no easy resolution. Just the slow burn of realization and the bittersweet sting of still caring. That’s a space Gray has always navigated well. It’s something he’s leaned into on his upcoming album Wishbone, set for release on August 15.
The album reunites Gray with longtime collaborator Dan Nigro. He has produced Gray’s most emotionally potent work, from “Kid Krow” to “Superache.” But “Wishbone” feels like it’s shaping up to be even more introspective. It is less about crying on the dance floor and more about sitting in the aftermath, half-sober, trying to figure out what went wrong.
Conan Gray has always written like someone who’s been paying very close attention to himself. That’s why Vodka Cranberry” feels like a culmination of that kind of emotional eavesdropping. It doesn’t demand your attention—it earns it, gently, devastatingly.
In the ever-shifting landscape of pop music, Conan Gray stands out not by being the loudest voice in the room, but the most emotionally fluent. He knows how to write about sadness without melodrama, longing without cliché. “Vodka Cranberry” isn’t a heartbreak anthem—it’s the moment after the anthem ends, when the lights come up and you’re still not sure what to do next.
It’s that kind of nuance that makes Gray more than just another Gen Z sad-pop star. He’s not just chronicling feelings—he’s honoring them, in all their messy, lingering, unresolved glory. And as Wishbone approaches, one thing is clear: Conan Gray’s heartbreak still hurts, but it’s never sounded this good.
