Coming out of Florida, Gigi Perez began her music career in 2018, releasing songs while still in high school as part of the indie-folk band Wendy Lane. Started writing songs as early as 15, even attended Berklee College of Music briefly before leaving during the pandemic. However, many changes were coming for the young, talented Perez, who tragically lost her older sister, Celene, in 2020. Altering the trajectory of her emotional landscape and creative focus, her partner broke up with her shortly after.
Coping with the loss of her sister, Perez began uploading songs to TikTok, including “Celene” and “Sometimes (Backwood),” which went viral. Of course, going viral got her noticed, and that success led to a deal with Interscope Records. Well deserved: this led to the 2023 EP, How To Catch a Falling Knife, followed in 2025 by her debut album, At the Beach, in Every Life. Initially released on April 25, 2025, through Island Records, an extended version arrived on July 25th with the first draft recording of the compelling “Sailor Song.”
All of this in mind, some might not be entirely well-versed on Gigi Perez just yet. Providing more profound insight, her includes are all over the map from Phoebe Bridgers and Bon Iver (especially his early work like Skinny Love and Flume), to Alex G, Jeff Buckley, Lady Gaga, Sufjan Stevens, Lana Del Rey’s 2012 Born to Die album, Adele’s 2011 21 album, and musical theatre, which she has a background in being in musicals like Titanic: The Musical and Light in the Piazza. She has also said her older sister, a mezzo-soprano opera singer, was a key inspiration in shaping her own voice and approach to songwriting.
Her style is described as Indie Folk, Indie Pop, or Lo-Fi/Bedroom Pop, known for its acoustic-driven sound, clever lyricism, and raw, vulnerable storytelling. Whatever you want to call it all, her own style shows up in spades with her debut full-length album. All extremely well-written, most of the record was self-produced and deeply personal with the above grief and relationship themes, as well as faith, as she goes through her personal journey.
Simply put, losing a sibling is one of the hardest things to do, especially at a young age. Perez takes us through the loss of music. Breaking it all down, “Fable” is considered an ethereal instrumental track. At the same time, “Survivor’s Guilt” features a voicemail from her late sister and a sound bite of her singing, which transitions into a little over a minute of instrumental. This is while “Sleeping” talks about falling into the pit of grief and not understanding, just wanting old Gigi back, because grief’s uncomfortable.
Love helped her through her grief, and the opening of the album and breakout hit, “Sailor Song,” tells of intense love for her partner, who she said helped. Inevitably, the album explores how this grief has shaped the way she loves. This in mind, “Crown” couples grief and religious trauma, while in “Sugar Water,” she remembers specifics with her sister. Then “Chemistry,” “Normalcy,” and the title tracks cover traversing and keeping her queer relationship secret and unconditional love. At the same time, “Please, Be Rude” alludes to seeing and finding that love, but being reckless (the innate messiness, warts and all, that comes with a committed relationship) about it if she wants to keep it on the down low.
Moving on, “Nothing Absolutely” again revisits grief, missing her sister and partner. Understanding it all, when loss and the accompanying grief happen, faith and religion can and often take a hit…or disappear altogether. Perez also delves into her complicated feelings about her religious upbringing and religious trauma. Again, we revisit “Fable,” “Sailor Song,” and “Crown,” which call out how appreciation is too often in death. “Twister” specifically takes religion and faith to task while also wanting to find any place other than where she is by referencing Oz. ”
Overall, At the Beach, In Every Life as a whole serves as an autobiographical reflection on the past five years with her sister’s death and her breakup, also including signing and being dropped by a major label, and eventually teaching herself to self-produce, which at her age has a lot to experience, to be vulnerable, and share with the masses is commendable. An artist with a big future ahead, Cryptic Rock gives Gigi Perez’s At the Beach, In Every Life 5 of 5 stars.
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