“I hope I’m not a hopeless romantic”, sings Grant Perez in the opening line of his debut album. Of course, the Sydney-based Filipino songwriter better known as Grentperez is exactly that – specialising in succinct, lovesick pop songs delivered with carefree hooks and winking self-awareness.
Thankfully, Perez approaches infatuation and devotion from enough different angles and sonic refreshes to keep us engaged throughout. Following the enormous success of 2021 single ‘Cherry Wine’, which achieved gold sales in America and Australia on the strength of amorous lyrics and breezy bossa nova, Perez stretches out in subtle and savvy ways on his debut – all while refining the light touch of his immaculate voice.
After the chirpy beat and unexpectedly noisy guitar in the opening of ‘Nice to Meet You’, he jumps right into the wobbly ballad ‘Girl at the Station’. Its gentle layer of strings complete the feeling of a love story unfolding against a Hollywood soundstage. ‘Falling for a Friend’ revisits the bossa nova tone of ‘Cherry Wine’, but sneaks in considerably darker lyrics about how he’d rather die than see his crush hold someone else’s hand.
Conjuring scenes of romantic pining is nothing new, but Perez adds fun musical and lyrical details to his varying perspectives. In a collaboration with Amsterdam artist Benny Sings, ‘Fuzzy Feeling’ flexes affable vocal harmonies and a hook that could have been an ad jingle for a low-sugar soft drink. Meanwhile, ‘12065’ (the zipcode for Clifton Park, New York) is a relatable portrait of a long-distance relationship: “How does it feel all alone with that hole in your bed / Making shapes with your body in the space that I left?”
In a 2022 interview, Perez told NME he’d like to explore distinct genres in the manner of artists like Toro y Moi. The album’s standout single ‘2DK’ makes good on that promise: it’s homespun hip-hop that plays like De La Soul meets Beck, capturing the giddy rush of a night spent partying (“Call a cab for me/Take a dab for me”), a first hook-up, and the requisite debriefing with a friend. Meanwhile, ‘Movie Scene’ and the Ruel duet ‘Dandelion’ lean more into confiding R&B.
It’s easy to imagine Perez doing an entire record in that vein, or in the Michael Bublé-esque crooning of closer ‘Yours to Keep’. At 23, he still has plenty of time to feel out his options in terms of sound and style. But for now, ‘Backflips at a Restaurant’ delivers on the promise of his early success and invites us deeper into what sounds like his private world.
