On Saturday, March 28, 2025, Australian singer/songwriter Grant Perez—known as grentperez—released his debut studio album, Backflips in a Restaurant. Perez, a relative newcomer to the indie pop and R&B scene, rose to fame off his 2021 single “Cherry Wine,” which has over 185 million streams worldwide. This new album represents his new, wide-ranging approach to making music, combining genres to create a masterpiece for a debut release.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of indie pop has been meteoric. Acts like TV Girl and Rex Orange County, having gained fame before 2020, helped lead the indie pop revolution that has led to the emergence of dozens of music’s most popular artists. Singers like Phoebe Bridgers, Suki Waterhouse, and Faye Webster and groups like Men I Trust have become household names, and there are many others in the wings with their own groups of supporters. Perez falls into this latter category, and his new album puts him one step closer to finding his way into the spotlight.
“Cherry Wine” was Perez’s claim to fame, as it rose quickly to popularity on TikTok and other social media outlets. The song possesses a nostalgic sound that reminds many of songs before their time, and Perez’s silky voice perfectly narrates the story of the track. It captures the essence of young romance and the timelessness of a classic love song. This timelessness is a theme throughout all of Perez’s discography, and he’s continued to make songs with a similar sound.
“Cherry Wine” was the single off his EP, Conversations With the Moon—a six-song project that, similarly to his biggest hit, achieves a timeless quality many artists today lack. Songs like the namesake track and “Absence of You” performed quite well on streaming services and became staples of his discography.
His first album, When We Were Younger, also captures the indie and bedroom pop qualities Perez became known for. Hits like “Old With You” portray Perez foolishly in love and imagining all that can come with it. Only one song later on the album, “Us Without Me” displays Perez at his most heartbroken, grappling with a previous partner being in another relationship. These types of love songs may have been done over and over again, but Perez’s ability to craft breathtaking lyrics and catchy melodies makes it seem like these ideas are brand new.
With his most recent project, Perez aimed to combine some of his success in the past with more risk-taking tracks that combined unique aspects of different genres.
“This album marks the start once again,” Perez told Apple Music in a recent interview. “I wanted to showcase that music should be fun and other genres should be explored if the artist chooses to do so. I wanted to flex my ability to create different types of music.”
He certainly explored genres, as this new album combines aspects of mainstream pop, R&B, soft rock, hip-hop, and EDM. When you blend these genres together and add Perez’s lyricism, you get in return his most ambitious and diverse project yet. Over the course of the album, Perez essentially displays many different parts of a relationship, from first meeting someone in the first track, “Nice to Meet You,” to what Perez has called “a wedding song” in “Yours to Keep.” Some of his most unique tracks highlight Perez’s newfound versatility, displaying his growth as an artist and the cohesiveness of the project.
The album’s third track, “Falling for a Friend” poses a relatable situation to any listener just from the song name. Its bossa nova style melody and instrumentals allow Perez to seamlessly flow through the lyrics and explain his dilemma—being caught in the midst of a friendship that you may want to take further, while also ensuring that you don’t mess the friendship up. The beautiful songwriting and the airy feel to the track disguise the concern and worry about losing a friend. Perez bounces from line to line eloquently and ties together a fun story into a strong track.
One of his more pop-oriented songs is “Headspace.” He sings about the stress of his partner and about wanting to solve all of their problems by giving them some time to air themselves out. The fast-paced backing track and Perez alternating between quicker and slower singing of lyrics mimic the mind of someone stressed, like the person who he’s trying to help in the song. Ultimately, it’s a creatively-approached pop song that expresses his desire to help his partner out when they are too in their head.
As Perez says in the chorus, “’Cause life’s too short for you to be cramming your headspace.”
Perez’s true versatility comes through on two tracks titled “2DK” and “Movie Scene,” respectively. Unafraid to take on a challenge, he incorporates elements of hip-hop and rap into these two songs, with “2DK” involving more spoken word-esque rap and “Movie Scene” attempting to imitate a neo-soul feel.
“2DK” tells the story of “two drunk kids turning up for the night,” as Perez states in the opening of the song. Instead of soft vocals leading the track, “2DK” features almost no singing whatsoever, with Perez instead opting for a softer rap song detailing a fun night out. Despite it being a complete 180 from his typical sound, fans have gravitated towards the track, and it has emerged as one of the most popular among his following.
“Movie Scene” features a boom-bap sound that echoes throughout the entire song. It keeps a steady beat as Perez glides on the track and puts forth a Ne-Yo-esque sound (someone who he cited as a big inspiration for this song). He sings throughout the song about many different movie clichés and hallmarks, all while maintaining this newer approach to music that he masterfully creates. Overall, it’s a strong track that emphasizes his ability to take risks and cash in on them when given the chance.
The last song, as mentioned earlier, has been described by Perez as a “wedding song” that ties the album together. A quintessential grentperez slow song, it captures his true spirit as a romantic, with breathtaking lines that accompany a slow dancer’s dream of a backing track.
“Until my heart no longer beats / It’s yours to keep,” Perez softly sings in the chorus.
From front to back, grentperez’s new project displayed an up-and-coming artist taking risks with his sound and reaping the benefits of them. Sure, many tracks across this album are your typical soft rock and indie pop tracks, but Perez’s willingness to branch out into new areas and feature some more upbeat songs made the album much more poignant. It’s a step in the right direction for Perez on his way to music fame, and it’s yet another strong album from the indie pop scene that has blossomed in the 2020s.
Max Forstein can be reached at mforstein@wesleyan.edu.
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