Conan Gray’s new video Vodka Cranberry is a breakup anthem disguised as a soft summer sip—bitter, sweet, and served with a twist of gay longing. And let’s just say: queer people everywhere are watching with one hand on their heart and the other on their phone texting, “don’t watch this if you’re emotionally fragile rn.”
Released this past Friday, Vodka Cranberry continues the tender, aching love story begun in Gray’s earlier single This Song, which introduced us to Wilson (played by Gray himself) and Brando (Corey Fogelmanis), two young men caught in the glowing, slow-motion car crash that is a summer romance.
If This Song was the breathless beginning—the shy glances, the tentative touches, the late-night confessions—then Vodka Cranberry is the part we all dread. The part where love begins to slip. The part that queers know too well: when the music doesn’t stop, but the dancing does.
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The Danica Kleinknecht-directed video opens quietly, almost lovingly, as Wilson reflects on what’s slipping away: “I wish it could be us for just a little bit longer,” he says. And from there, we follow the couple on a slow, aching unraveling. Gray sings, “Speak up/Don’t leave me waiting/Got way too drunk off a vodka cranberry/Called you up in the middle of the night/Wailing like an imbecile… If you won’t end things, then I will.”
Cue the emotional damage.
The visuals move between sun-drenched nostalgia and raw moments of disconnection. Road trips turn into silences. Affection is met with distance. At one point, they share a drink at a bar, seemingly reconnecting—until Brando’s eyes start to wander, and he drifts off to play pool with a girl, leaving Wilson alone with his realization. A gay rite of passage, truly.
It’s heartbreaking not just because of the romance falling apart, but because it’s so real. Many queer folks know what it’s like to fall for someone who doesn’t—or can’t—hold on. That’s what makes Gray’s storytelling so powerful: it’s not just queer representation, it’s queer emotion. Messy, raw, relatable.
In real life, Conan Gray is openly part of the LGBTQ+ community, though he hasn’t put a specific label on it. He’s always written love songs that speak directly to queer experience—heartfelt, sometimes devastating, and beautifully universal.
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Corey Fogelmanis, who plays Brando, hasn’t publicly labeled his sexuality. But he’s played queer roles before and brings a quiet vulnerability to this one that’s earned him praise from fans. Whether he identifies as queer or not, his performance is
So yes, this is a gay love story. But more than that, it’s our story: the one that doesn’t always end with fireworks, but with silence. The one where the guy you thought was “the one” walks away before you’re ready to let go. The one you drink to, cry over, and maybe write a song about five years later.
With his album Wishbone dropping August 15—and this being officially dubbed “Wishbone Summer”—fans are preparing for more heartbreak. Or healing. Or both. Honestly, with Gray, it’s never just one or the other.
So no,Vodka Cranberry doesn’t end with a fairytale kiss. It ends with the kind of silence that screams. But that’s what makes it matter. In a world still catching up to the idea that queer love is worth telling in full color, Conan Gray gives us the full spectrum—sunlit beginnings, stormy middles, and those quiet endings that leave you crying on your friend’s couch at 2 a.m.
And maybe that’s the real win here. Not the relationship—but the visibility, the emotional truth, the permission to feel all of it. Heartbreak and all.
Cheers to Conan for turning queer ache into art. And to all the Wilsons and Brandos out there: we saw you. We are you. And we’re saving your spot on the dance floor when the next song starts.
Source: Rolling Stone
this boy can’t hit some of these notes
I can’t imagine having a video like this when I was a younger gay boy in the closet. Had me so teary.