On Apr. 25 Gigi Perez released her debut album “At The Beach, In Every Life.” Since the release of one of the album’s singles, “Sailor Song,” Perez has grown a large fan base. She has captivated audiences with her unique vocal tone, powerful alto voice, and intense song writing. A large theme in her music is grief as she shares about her experiences with heartbreak and the loss of her older sister Celene, whose voice is present all throughout this album.
The album starts with the familiar sound of fan favorite single, “Sailor Song.” This song came out in July 2024 and quickly became a hit that would lead Perez to perform on shows like “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” sign with Island Records, begin a headlining tour, earn a spot as an opener for Hozier’s “Unreal Unearth Tour,” and eventually begin writing her debut album.
Before the release of “Sailor Song,” Perez had released two other singles that would eventually make it onto this album. These include “Normalcy” and “Please Be Rude.” New fans who found Perez through “Sailor Song” eventually came across these other singles, which led to anticipation for any new singles and a potential album. So, when she released the next two singles “Fable” and “Chemistry,” the songs saw major success. Just a few months after the release of “Chemistry,” on Apr. 14, Perez announced that her debut album would come out in just a few short weeks.
Each of the five singles leading up to the announcement and release of the album gave listeners a glimpse of what was to come from the project. Each single is unique but matches Perez’s unique sound perfectly as they display common themes of grief and the challenges of finding love.
The second track on the album that follows “Sailor Song” is “Sleeping.” This song is a great introduction to the beauty that is to come from the rest of the project. The next song is the captivatingly personal, yet highly relatable “Sugar Water” in which Perez sings about specific childhood memories. She has this unique ability to write with such specificity that it becomes hard not to relate to her words. Although the memories are her own, they feel so familiar and relevant to the listener as they allow themselves to recall their own similar memories.
The next track is the single “Normalcy” followed by “Nothing, Absolutely.” This song is unique compared to the others and is filled with ambient sounds and haunting vocals with simple guitar plucking throughout. Her vocals start soft and slowly build up into her signature strong belting and beautiful runs. This is my personal favorite track on the album as it features captivating production choices along with beautifully crafted vocals and lyrics.
This track transitions beautifully into the single “Chemistry” and then into perhaps the most heartbreaking moment of the album, “Survivor’s Guilt.” This song features the voice of Perez’s older sister Celene who was also a singer and slowly builds up into transitioning to the next song “Crown,” whose lyrics are very obviously about the grief of losing her sister. This moment is a beautiful way of honoring the individual who inspired Perez to keep pursuing music.
Following “Crown,” comes the last two singles “Fable” and “Please Be Rude,” which are my favorites of the five singles that led up to the album. The second to last song of the album is “Twister,” featuring unique production choices and beautiful lyrics. This song transitions into the final song and title track “At The Beach, In Every Life,” which perfectly wraps up the entire album. It circles back to each of the recurring themes and features Perez’s strong vocals and song writing accompanied by raw acoustic guitar and harmonies. The album closes out with one last voice message that is most likely from Celene saying “I love you, goodbye.”
Gigi Perez’s debut album “At The Beach, In Every Life” is a beautiful and thoughtfully crafted love letter to those experiencing grief and heartbreak. Fans will find themselves relating to the intense lyrics and feeling every word presented through such strong and unique vocals. Perez has been making music for years and only has plans to continue writing, collaborating, and performing her music as she continues the process of promoting this album and her upcoming performances.
Nora Lee is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].
