Seriously. It’s fitting that Gavin Haley’s video for his new song, “Lottery,” has everything. It has a giant palace, gold phones, a nerdy schoolgirl, someone in a polar bear costume, a love connection between a pair of sexagenarians (people in their 60s), and an aerobics instructor loving life while breaking a sweat. There’s even a hairless cat. After all, the song is a great “What if?” detailing everything Gavin would do if he were to strike it rich.
“My song ‘Lottery’ is an upbeat, fun song. When Skylar, Nick, and myself went into the studio, we were really pressing for some different concepts, songs we hadn’t heard, and songs I haven’t personally written,” Gavin tells HollywoodLife. “In the past, I seem to dive more into the relationships and the painful side of my life, and it was just fun to write something that was fresh, new and a concept I haven’t really heard people talk about; which is, ‘What if I ran into this random amount of fortune?’ And I don’t really know what I would do if that happened.”
“I think a lot of people would hope that money wouldn’t change them, but what if I all of a sudden you had 500 million dollars?” he continues. “Would I go buy a bunch of things and just consume my world with materialistic objects? Or would I give it back? Would I help the people around me? So, it’s kind of just exploring all those options and not really knowing what I’d do If I won the lottery. I love this song and it’s great driving music.”
“Lottery” heralds Gavin’s debut album, i hate you, Don’t Leave Me, which arrived July 15 on Red Bull Records. It contains this new song and previously released singles “Body Language,” and “Cliché.” It also marks a major accomplishment for a pop maverick who has been building a career for himself since his 2019 debut EP, Long Game. Powered by the fan-favorite song “The Way I Am,” Long Game has since amassed over 50 million streams and primed fans for the 2020 follow-up, Unfolding. Despite arriving during the height of the pandemic, Unfolding has gained over 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, thanks in part to “Tati,” a collab with Yung Pinch that caught Travis Barker’s ear (and he subsequently remixed, drawing in more fans to Gavin’s music.)
In addition to releasing this album, Gavin’s 2022 saw him tour along with Tate McRae, building the buzz to a fevered pitch. It’s likely that Gavin will have all the fame and fortune he sings about in “Lottery.” Then, he can buy a real dancing polar bear (though he probably won’t.)