Conan Gray Leans Into His Vulnerability in "Heather" Video

In the highly anticipated music video to his newest smash single, Conan Gray will leave you asking one question: Who is Heather? After fully immersing yourself in this audiovisual masterpiece, it's all too easy to get equally lost in the YouTube comment section, where listeners go back and forth in artistic analysis comparable to that of an AP English Literature class. One top comment says "Heather is not just a pretty girl. She's the girl everyone loves. She's the girl who seems to have everything you don't. But you don't really see her for all she is, just the version you have of her in your head."

This video isn't glamorous. In fact, it's the raw, organic moments that lure you in. Each intimate closeup seamlessly matches the swelling of acoustic guitar. The melancholy image of Conan sitting in the shower as dreamy harmonies wash over the production stirs an all-too-familiar sense of vulnerability and rejection. The visual aesthetic is effortlessly perfect, from the set, to the cinematography, to the wardrobe featuring the iconic sweater. There's a natural quality that makes "Heather" feel more like a close friend's story than a song, as if you were just sitting at the end of Conan's unmade bed, as if every lyric was a secret he trusted you with.

This authentic sentiment perfectly matches the inspiration of the song, as told by Conan: "when i was in high school, i had a crush on the same one person all four years. but that one person did not love me back, instead my crush liked a girl named heather. heather was gentle and beautiful, inside and out... she was soft and so easily lovable - everything i am not. the heather video is my way of becoming all of the things that i envy about heather... the slow transformation throughout the video was made to represent the feminine and masculine traits i constantly switched between in order to become who i knew my crush would like. somebody soft and sweet. somebody like heather."

This is only the start for the unapologetic singer-songwriter from central Texas. Beyond the video's immediate success (it's the #4 trending video on YouTube as I write this), "Heather" has recently ascended to #1 on the Apple Music Pop Songs Chart and #1 on the Tik Tok Pop Playlist Sound. In addition, the track has now reached over 110 million streams as well as countless enviable placements on charts and playlists. Conan Gray has been pegged by Billboard and Forbes among next year's "Best New Artist" nominees for the 2021 GRAMMY Awards. Although, while he's already taken the industry by storm, the best is still yet to come.

And trust me, you don't want to miss this one.

Watch "Heather" Here:

Related Articles

Jade LeMac on Toxic Relationships, Joke Songs, and 'My Life With the Walter Boys'

Jade LeMac on Toxic Relationships, Joke Songs, and 'My Life With the Walter Boys'

February 6, 2024 19-year-old LeMac is taking the pop world by storm with her confessional storytelling and biting tracks.
Author: Abby Kenna
Pop
Meet PrettyUgly, the Next It-Band of Alternative Pop Fusion

Meet PrettyUgly, the Next It-Band of Alternative Pop Fusion

January 27, 2024 The LA-based alternative band merges powerhouse frontwoman vocals with an indie-fusion of sounds to create genre-bending pop-rock earworms.
Author: Abby Kenna
Pop
Maeve Steele Guides Us Track-by-Track Through "Honeyland," Her Latest Angelic EP

Maeve Steele Guides Us Track-by-Track Through "Honeyland," Her Latest Angelic EP

January 19, 2024 Maeve Steele floated ‘round to OnesToWatch to invite us into the angelic world of her recent EP, Honeyland. A nuanced songwriter and artist, Maeve Steele winds through themes of natural beauty, loneliness, and the passage of time in this project.
Author: DJ Connor
Pop