Conan Gray made his debut on triple j’s Like A Version on Friday, October 16, 2026, covering ADÉLA’s “Ain’t In LA,” a song that has peaked at No. 7 in Australia and No. 12 in the UK. He played it with his backing band in the station’s studio and added his own “Moths” for the segment’s original-song half.
The timing tells you how the year has gone for both acts. Gray had just finished the Australian and New Zealand leg of the Wishbone World Tour, and he picked the breakout record of the moment rather than a safe classic. Triple j called the result his “soaring, alt-rock infused Like A Version debut.”
What is Like A Version, and why does a debut matter?
Like A Version is the weekly triple j Breakfast segment where an artist plays a song of their own and a song they love in the Australian youth broadcaster’s studio. The video goes up on triple j’s YouTube channel, and a podcast episode with the hosts follows. In the weeks before Gray, the slot went to Ashnikko (Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For?” on October 9), The Temper Trap (Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times” on October 2) and, in August, Slayyyter covering Hole.
Many guests reach for a song with years behind it. Gray chose one that is still on the charts. That is a riskier move: the original is fresh in every listener’s ear, so a cover lives or dies on what it changes. Triple j’s description suggests he leaned on guitars and his live band.
He picked the breakout record of the moment, not a safe classic.
Why “Ain’t In LA” is the song of the season
ADÉLA, the Slovak singer whose first brush with fame came on the 2023 talent show The Debut: Dream Academy (the series that produced KATSEYE), released “Ain’t In LA” on July 23, 2026 through Capitol, alongside the announcement of her debut album Prima, which followed on September 4. The song was inspired by photographs of her mother, and NME called it “largely an anthem of anti-escapism.”
The numbers back up the hype. The song peaked at No. 12 on the UK Official Singles Chart across 12 weeks on the chart, and on October 13 it climbed to No. 1 on the UK’s Official Trending Chart. In Australia, ARIA had it at No. 7 for the week of September 28, its sixth week in the Top 50, and it was still at No. 11 in its ninth week on the October 19 chart. Her follow-up, “Nicole Kidman,” has reached No. 4 in both the UK and Australia.
There is a familiar name in the credits. Blake Slatkin and Dylan Brady executive produced Prima, the album “Ain’t In LA” comes from, Stereogum reported. Slatkin, whose range we looked at in a profile of his genre-hopping catalog, now has a song from an album he helped steer reworked live by Conan Gray.
Where does this leave the Wishbone era?
The Wishbone World Tour opened February 19 at Target Center in Minneapolis as a 42-city run. Its Australian and New Zealand leg began September 26 at Spark Arena in Auckland and closed October 8 at RAC Arena in Perth, with arena stops in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in between. “Moths,” the original he played for triple j, is one of the songs added on Wishbone Deluxe, released April 24, 2026.
In the podcast episode, Gray talked with hosts Phil and Tyrone about his Adele obsession, the fan projects at his Australian shows and a joking claim that he caused a Bogong moth invasion. Triple j’s episode page signed off with “Raise your Vodka Cranberry,” a nod to his own single.
For fans, the cover is a souvenir of a tour run that just ended. Gray did not use it to announce anything new. It shows him in a generous mood: a headliner handing his Australian spotlight to a newcomer’s song while that song is still on the charts.