Jack Gray has a way of captivating his audience, whether it’s on stage in front of thousands or speaking to one person in an interview.
Maybe it’s the way he talks about making music with the same restless curiosity that seems to drive the music itself, or the fact that despite having already built a career writing, producing, and working across different corners of the music industry, he still talks about finding his place as an artist.
This self-discovery is at the heart of Swimming In Jeans, Gray’s first album and a record that feels far more assured than the word “debut” might usually suggest.
Across 12 tracks, Gray moves comfortably between glossy, infectious pop and some more stripped-back acoustic moments, building a record that feels personal without ever becoming too precious.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Swimming In Jeans is just how much of it is unmistakably Gray, and this feels so apparent talking to him. He produced ten of the album’s 12 tracks himself, recording wherever he happened to be, whether that be his parents’ home on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast or his current home in Los Angeles, with a portable rig in tow.
“I set a challenge for myself to produce the thing myself,” Gray explains. “I wanted to see if I could do it, and I thought it would be a great learning curve.
"It might not be the best album," he muses, "but it’ll just be 100% of me in there – which I love."
As it turns out, the result is considerably more polished and impressive than Gray gives himself credit for.
The album’s title, Swimming In Jeans, pops up in a few places on the record, one being the titular track and the other being a lyric in Dumb Sh*t. The idea came from an image, with Gray imagining a movie scene, drawing on memories of parties from his younger years and stitching together small moments to create a story.
“In that song, it’s a literal sense of this girl swimming in jeans," he explains. "It just felt really sticky to me; it felt thought-provoking.” That phrase stuck around long enough to become something much bigger.
Looking back over the past few years, Gray says much of the album reflects darker periods of his life. “There’s a lot going on; it’s pretty heavy," he notes. "A lot of the time, over the last few years for myself, I’ve just felt like I’ve spent months just trying to keep my head above water.”
Suddenly, the image of swimming while being weighed down by denim becomes something more than a striking song title and becomes a pretty perfect metaphor for the album itself.
There’s heaviness throughout Swimming In Jeans, but it never completely overwhelms the record. Gray has a knack for finding the pop melody inside a complicated feeling, allowing some vulnerable moments to retain a sense of movement.
It’s a particularly impressive balance considering how much of the album was made while he was still figuring out exactly what he wanted the project to be.
Before committing to the album, he had been living in Los Angeles, writing K-pop, producing scores for short films, and eventually working on his first movie. He was also writing songs for himself, but without necessarily knowing where they’d end up.
When he eventually partnered with Island Records and decided it was time to properly return to his artist project, he had a backlog of material to sift through.
“I combed through all the songs that I had," he remembers. "I was like, 'Alright, these ones to me feel great, but I hate the version; I hate where they’re sitting at.' So I did like 10 versions of every song."
Though some of the album already existed, about half was yet to be written.
“I know I write a lot of bad songs too, right? So I try and write way, way more songs than I need and then live with them for a little bit,” he reveals. “Then I can peel back and see which ones stood the test of time with fresh ears.”
It’s a process that also seems to have taught him when to stop tinkering. Gray admits he can get caught up in the tiniest of details, often spending an entire day worrying about something as small as the sound of a snare drum.
Making Swimming In Jeans forced him to take a step back and work out what actually matters.
Reflecting on what he learned through the process, Gray says, “I think it’s not overthinking as much as I do. I do it in every aspect of my life.
"I think for me, over the course of this record, I realised the most important thing is the lyrics and the melody. It’s like that’s the crux of the song, and everything should just be there to support that.”
It’s an important lesson, particularly for an artist who has spent so much time on the production side of music. While the production of Swimming In Jeans is undeniably one of its strengths, it’s Gray’s voice that tells the most compelling story.
For years, singing was the part of making music that left him feeling the least confident. He had spent years playing instruments and producing- areas where he felt comfortable and capable.
Vocally, though, he struggled with a sense that he was somehow pretending. That insecurity became something he had to confront while making this record.
“I took lessons for a little while, which I never did as a kid,” he says. “I was always self-conscious about my voice. I feel like on this record, I’m just so proud of how far my voice has come.”
That growth is audible, and there’s a confidence across the performances that makes the record feel like something that has already found its footing.
“I’ve always felt like I’m just pretending like I can sing," he muses. "I’ve always felt like a fraud there.”
It’s difficult to reconcile that description with the confidence of the finished album, but perhaps that disconnect is exactly what makes it feel so human. Gray is still learning; he’s still second-guessing himself.
And yet, somewhere in the middle of making Swimming In Jeans, he started to believe in his own voice. That confidence has found its way outside of the studio now, too.
In July, Gray joined Freya Skye on tour, opening for the young pop artist in front of an audience he admits initially terrified him.
Watching from the crowd at the Melbourne show – the biggest on this leg of the tour – it was clear that Gray had already built a genuine connection with Skye’s fanbase, with young fans singing along and treating his set with the same enthusiasm they brought to the headline performance.
From Gray’s perspective, however, there was some serious apprehension beforehand.
“Sometimes kids scare me, and not just younger kids, but even teenagers and stuff," he admits with a laugh. "They scare the shit outta me. I was pretty scared that they were all going to be like, ‘Who’s this guy? Get him out of here! Where’s Freya?'"
Instead, he found a fanbase that embraced him with open arms.
“When everyone was so welcoming and supportive, it really meant a lot to me," he says. "Freya’s community - they were all so supportive. I’m so grateful for that.”
It’s an experience Gray hopes to build on, particularly as he begins thinking about what Swimming In Jeans will sound like outside of the confines of his headphones.
One of the songs he’s most excited to bring to the stage is In The Picture, a personal favourite that he hasn’t performed live yet. There’s just one hurdle: the chorus is very, very high.
“I kind of feed off of other people’s energy like that because I don’t know, I don’t trust myself," he admits. "So I’m excited to play that one; I just got to learn how to sing it," he adds, laughing.
When it comes to Swimming In Jeans, Gray is looking forward. This is a debut, but it definitely doesn’t feel like he is trying to prove anything.
Instead, it feels like the culmination of years spent writing, producing, working on film scores, experimenting and slowly working out what kind of artist he wants to be.
There are polished pop moments, intimate acoustic passages, big melodies and plenty of personality packed into its 12 tracks. Underneath all of that, though, is an artist learning to trust himself, and for Gray, that might ultimately be the record’s biggest achievement.
“I think my voice,” he says when asked what he’s most proud of. “My voice came a long way when making this album.”
It’s a deceptively simple answer, but it gets to the heart of Swimming In Jeans – it’s Gray finding the confidence to believe that his voice belongs there in the first place.
If this is what he can create while he’s still figuring that out, Swimming In Jeans feels like it’s only the beginning of something worth paying close attention to.
Jack Gray's Swimming In Jeans is out on Friday, 11 September.
