With confessional and heartfelt lyrics, a soft yet striking voice, and a visual identity rooted in softness, nostalgia, and raw emotion, Gigi Perez is quickly making her mark on the alt-pop scene. After captivating people with the emotional hits “Sailor Song” and “Fable”, the singer and songwriter has just released her debut album called At The Beach, In Every Life – and it’s about to take another big step: opening for Hozier in Brazil in just a few days.
Born in New Jersey and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida, Gigi Perez grew up in a Christian household where music was a constant presence, both sacred and secular. She began writing songs at 15 and started releasing music in 2018 while in high school as part of the band Wendy Lane. After attending Berklee College of Music, she left due to the COVID-19 pandemic and began uploading videos on TikTok, where she went viral in early 2021 with songs like “Celene” and “Sometimes (Backwood)”.
Following the release of her debut EP, How to Catch a Falling Knife, in April of 2023, which included singles like “Sally”, “The Man”, and “Figurines”, Gigi spent the year performing at various festivals and headline shows across the U.S., U.K., and Europe. She has opened for major artists such as Coldplay, Noah Cyrus, Girl In Red, and many others.
Gigi’s music feels intimate, like a whispered conversation on a scribbled journal entry. Blending dreamy melodies with deeply personal lyrics, she creates a soundscape for those who have been heartbroken, hopeful, or even hopeless, all at once.
“Sailor Song”, her biggest hit, is an intimate confession – a plea to love and be loved without fear, without conditions. It’s the voice of someone who has been through heartbreak and growth, now asking only for honesty and presence: love me like you said you would, love me like it matters. Gigi Perez sings with urgency, as if tomorrow isn’t promised, capturing the fragile beauty of loving in the now. When she asks, “What’s my flavor?” it’s not just flirtation – it’s a raw question about being truly seen and truly felt by someone who means everything.
The song also holds quiet defiance: to love a woman so deeply in a world that judges and restricts is, in itself, a revolutionary act. In moments of love, the noise fades – and what’s left is healing, truth, and the radical act of choosing someone and being chosen in return. “Sailor Song” is not just about romance; it’s about the freedom to exist fully in the eyes of another.
“Fable” – one of Gigi’s most poignant and personal songs – is a delicate meditation on grief, faith, and identity. Written in the aftermath of her sister’s passing, the song reflects a deep longing to believe in God and the afterlife, just to hold onto the hope of seeing her again. But layered within the spiritual yearning is a quiet, painful battle: the conflict between her love, pure, tender, and true, and the rejection she faces from religious spaces because of her sexuality.
Lines like “Love was the law and religion was taught” and “Why does my skin start to burn?” echo the struggles of so many in the LGBTQ+ community who think that their love disqualifies them from faith, as if divinity were conditional. “Fable” becomes a heartbreaking hymn for those who want to believe, even when belief seems to come with rejection. It asks: how could a God who claims to be here, just turn away from a love so gentle and so real?
Through this emotional tension, Gigi gives voice to a quiet resistance – the right to mourn, to believe, and to love without shame. “Fable” isn’t just a story of loss. It’s a plea for compassion, for spiritual belonging, and for the kind of faith that embraces, rather than excludes.
Her debut album, released earlier this year, is a raw and cohesive portrait of a young artist finding her voice. Across the record, Gigi navigates themes of identity, longing, and the ache of growing up. The album was born out of the profound loss of her older sister, Celene, whose voice memos are interwoven throughout the 12-track record, serving as a poignant thread that ties the project together.
Recorded in her home studio in Florida, Perez collaborated with close friends Noah Weinman and Aidan Hobbs to bring the album to life. Tracks like “Nothing, Absolutely” and “Fable” showcase her ability to translate personal experience into universally resonant music. Other standout tracks include “Normalcy”, a dreamlike love song that builds in intensity, and “Survivor’s Guilt”, an instrumental piece beginning with a clip of Celine singing opera, capturing the raw emotion of loss without words. The album concludes with the titular track, “At The Beach, In Every Life”, blending upbeat melodies with introspective lyrics, encapsulating the essence of the singer’s journey.
She describes the album as “the album I needed to listen to when I was twenty years old, following the passing of my older sister, Celene. It’s taken years to process, and seeing how it’s colored everything in my life, it feels like a flag down in the sand at a checkpoint rather than a destination.”
At The Beach, In Every Life stands as a testament to Gigi Perez’s resilience and artistry, marking her as a compelling new voice in the music industry.
Though Gigi began her career releasing music independently, her authenticity quickly caught the attention of a growing audience online. Her connection with fans is real, often replying to comments and sharing her creative process on social media. That same authenticity is bringing her to bigger stages, and opening for Hozier in Brazil is one of her biggest yet.
It’s a fitting match: both artists lean into poetic lyricism and emotional depth. For Gigi, the opportunity is both surreal and significant. “It’s an honor to open for someone whose music means so much to so many people”. And for Brazilian fans, it’s a chance to discover a rising voice that might just soundtrack the next chapter of their lives.
Gigi Perez is more than just a viral moment – she’s a storyteller with a rare ability to turn vulnerability into strength. Her aesthetic might draw you in, but it’s the emotional truth of her music that stays with you. With a debut album out, a growing international fanbase, and so many concerts coming, it’s safe to say: this is only the beginning.
So if you’re heading to Hozier’s show, make sure to get there early. You won’t want to miss Gigi Perez.
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The article above was edited by Clarissa Palácio.
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