Following her breakthrough track “Sailor Song”, Gigi Perez packs a catalogue of hopelessly romantic acoustic tracks with a grand atmosphere about her queer experience.
Before listening to this album, I had low expectations. In the modern age, many artists who have a song blow up on TikTok tend to be one trick ponies, good at releasing a single or EP but ultimately falling short when the time comes to craft an album. Against all odds, Perez blew it out of the water. From top to bottom, she shows real humanity in her words and the contrast in dynamics reflect a true artist dedicated to perfecting the sound as much as the lyrics.
The defining trait of Perez’s music is her unique and captivating voice, which is the reason she went viral in the first place, and the fact that she doesn’t use it as a gimmick is a breath of fresh air. Instead, she uses it as a tool to set the tone for each track. There’s a certain desperation in her voice as she sings “I want it back, I want it back” over and over again on “Sugar Water” that exponentially elevates the quality of the track. There’s a kind of sullenness in her throat as she sings “They put a crown on His head, they only love Him ‘cause He’s dead” on “Crown”. All of it equally devastating, all of it equally beautiful.
Among the twelve songs on the tracklist, the ones that stand out the most, both lyrically and sonically, are “Sleeping”, “Normalcy”, and the title track and outro “At The Beach, In Every Life”. So many different complex themes and emotions appear throughout the record, whether it’s a struggle of faith or the concept of death, yet it never feels like she’s repeating herself. She has so much to say and she says them in the most sophisticated and articulate way. Considering that this album was written almost completely by herself — I am impatiently waiting for what she has to say next.
