They say high school is the four best years of your life, but life as a teenager can become dull and often times difficult. Nineteen-year-old Texas native, youtube star, and singer-songwriter Conan Gray released “Sunset Season”, on Friday, Nov.16. An album whose songs capture the feeling of being young in a dreamlike and nostalgic way.

Sunset Season was Gray’s highly anticipated debut EP whose songs speak of heartbreak, loss and the ups and downs of youth. According to Gray, most of the songs featured were inspired or based on real events from his life and teenage years. The EP ’s cover art displays Gray holding award ribbons and trophies, wearing a homecoming crown and sash, and standing in front of a sunset in an outdoor basketball court. The album’s art creates a retro and melancholic feeling, pairing perfectly with the album’s contents. With a soft but mature voice, Gray captures the essence of today’s youth with the lyrics of old favorites and catchy new ones.

Idle Town

“Idle Town” is the first track featured on Sunset Season.  Previously released in 2017, it was the song that launched Conan Gray’s music career, for it quickly reached 11 million views. The song uses a repeated chorus in the background, a light piano, and the sound of bike gears shifting. The calming and smooth sounds merge a feeling of goodbye with a remembrance of memories. Conan dedicated and wrote Idle Town to his senior year. It was written as a farewell ode to his small hometown in Texas.

“This town will never change/ People come and go, it’s all the same/ Speed the roads on our doubting days/To any place that’s far away”

Generation Why

Following this track is “Generation Why.” The lyrics of this song focus on the struggles of growing up as a millennial. The song initiates with a lazy repetition of “why, why, why,” which later on merges into Gray’s lightness and the song’s simple beat. The song’s lyrics express the agony of enduring people’s ridicule as well as the pressures that come with the future. Generation Why, while being upbeat and dreamy, allows younger generations to connect with deeper subjects that they’ll encounter through the years of youth.

“Cause we are the helpless, selfish, one of a kind/ Millennium kids, that all wanna die/ Walking in the street with no light inside our eyes/ We are the worthless, cursed with too much time/ We get into trouble and lose our minds/ Something that I’ve heard a million times in my life/ Generation why”

Crush Culture & Greek God

Tracks three and four, “Crush Culture” and “Greek God”, portray Gray’s ongoing battle with love.

“Crush Culture” draws attention to the ideology/culture of needing a significant other during high school. The lyrics are dedicated to those who aren’t in a romantic relationship and are simply forced to watch as people around them pair up. The lyrics shed light on today’s idea that if someone has a crush they should confess their feelings to avoid being alone. It’s a song that celebrates the downside, but happiness that comes from being alone. Gray describes it as a “song for the loveless”.

“Greek God” has a different sound and vibe to the rest of the songs, but it’s lyrics still capture the listener. Gray expresses his frustration with love and his anger towards a person of the past. The low tempo and the sudden changes in beat add to the feelings transmitted in this song.

Lookalike

The last track featured is “Lookalike”. Out of all the songs, this one happened to become my all-time favorite. It’s a song that tugs at your heart and takes you back in time. The lyrics of the song revolve around a  relationship that didn’t last and remained in the past. The tone is melancholic and the overall theme is of hurting, old memories, and replacement. Heartbreak being the inspiration behind it gives the song a sad but soothing feel. “Lookalike” will leave the listener singing along to the depressing lyrics that describe what could have been but never was.

“But when you look in his eyes/ Do you think of mine?/ And when you look at that smile/ Do I cross your mind?/ I know in your head/ You see me instead/ Cause he looks a lot like I did back then/ Baby don’t lie/ He’s just a lookalike”

“Sunset Season” is the perfect album to listen too when wanting to remember, smile, and celebrate high school years.