After wrapping up Found Heaven On Tour six months ago, Conan Gray has officially announced his fourth album, Wishbone, executive-produced by Dan Nigro. The first single, “This Song,” was released on May 30th, along with a music video directed by Danica Kleinknecht. The video gives off a Call Me By Your Name vibe in terms of the warm, nostalgic aesthetics. It’s one of those videos that slowly sneaks up on you emotionally. I didn’t cry-cry, but my eyes definitely got a little glittery.
PHOTO: DILLON MATTHEW
With songs like Heather, The Cut That Always Bleeds, and Memories, Conan Gray is known for writing deeply emotional lyrics about unrequited love and heartbreak. But This Song isn’t a heartbreak song—it’s a genuine love song. A truly beautiful one.
The song opens with a mid-tempo, dreamy instrumental that instantly transports you to a summer evening—golden landscapes, warm air, and the feeling of being fully present in the moment. That feeling is brought perfectly to the music video. It’s about two boys, Wilson and Brando, played by Conan Gray himself and Corey Fogelmanis, who spend the summer together in a small town in Texas.
The music video tells a love story between the two, and the warm-toned cinematography beautifully reflects the emotion of the song. We see them sharing moments—in the car, on bicycles, in the water, running through a field, even carving their names into a tree. It’s exactly the picture you have in your head when you think about living the perfect summer with someone to share it with.
Conan sings lines like “Your eyes are like Heaven, your voice is like rain. 11:11s, they all hear your name,” telling the story from Wilson’s perspective, how deeply he adores Brando. But although the characters spend a lot of time together, neither of them seems to say what they really feel. There are scenes where they quietly watch each other, and you can see in their faces that something is left unspoken. Conan expresses that in the lyrics: “That I wrote this song about you. Something I wish you knew. Something I’ve tried to say.” He’s too shy to say it out loud—so instead, he confesses it with This Song.
Later, there’s a scene where Brando works at a take-out window, talking to a girl. Wilson is leaning around the corner, watching them with a subtle expression. Then he walks away. In the next scene, he’s asleep in his bed, and Brando sneaks in through the window and lies down next to him.
Not long after that, they’re both on a rooftop, sun going down. The bridge of the song is played, where it’s just Conan’s voice and a gentle instrumental. He sings “You know that I love you. Is it dumb believing you might love me too?” They laugh about something, when the air suddenly shifts. They just look at each other, and the song goes silent for a moment. Then, when the outro is played, full instrumentals, they do the thing we’ve all waited for: they kiss.
A few more scenes follow where they just enjoy each other’s presence. The last scene shows Wilson and Brando in a car. The car is parked right next to the take-out window, where Brando was working earlier in the video, and Wilson had walked away when Brando was talking to this other person. Wilson’s gaze is fixed on the floor, while Brando silently looks at him. Then, Brando grabs Wilson’s face and kisses him again. The screen turns to black, and at the very end, we see the tree with “Wilson + Brando were here” carved into it.
The music video makes you crave a whole movie about Wilson and Brando. It’s clear that they’re both in love with each other, but there also seem to be unspoken things they don’t say out loud. It makes you question how this love story will continue.
With This Song, Conan Gray didn’t just give us a strong lead single—he shared a queer love story that feels real and honest, filling hearts with love, hope, and the courage to embrace who you are. At least, that’s what it did for me. The song and music video are a beautiful reminder that opening up and being yourself can be scary, but it’s worth it.
In his album announcement, Conan wrote “I didn’t know why I was recording, I just was. I didn’t know what story I was telling, I was just living in it. Slowly I started to see myself in full picture. The slivers of myself I’d always been, but never faced. The songs I’d always been writing, but never singing. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by an album.” Wishbone will be released on August 15th, so get your tissue boxes ready. With This Song setting the tone, this album promises to be full of love, maybe some heartbreak, self-exploration, and a perfect soundtrack for this summer.
Conan Gray also announced a new tour, The Wishbone Pajama Show, which will kick off this September in Ohio and wrap up in October in Mexico. “Pajamas encouraged but not required,” he writes in the announcement. So while you’re packing your sailor caps and pajama pants, get ready to see Conan Gray live—with hemlocke springs opening the show.
ARTWORK: CONNOR DEWHURST