grenpterez

grentperez bio - when we were young

“Writing music is like directing a movie. You want to create an intricate narrative that has emotional power despite it not necessarily being communicated in a super straightforward way. The whole needs to be greater than the sum of its parts, you know?”

This is grentperez’s succinct summation of his artistic ambitions for When We Were Younger, the Australian bedroom pop phenomenon’s sophisticated and thoroughly surprising new EP. The “you know?” is emblematic of his warm character; he genuinely cares that you’re picking up what he’s putting down. At 21 years old, he’s still growing into his artistic identity, and is careful when putting his creative instincts into words.

This caution perhaps stems from his informal music education — he soaked up sounds not in strict lessons but from family karaoke parties (“Filipino people love karaoke,” he explains with a laugh, “There are some uncles out there with hidden-ass talent”) as well as the YouTube endeavors of his older brother and sister, who he credits heavily as his biggest musical influences and cheerleaders. But the intuitive and unexpected sonic detours on When We Were Younger are what make grentperez’s breezy, lithe pop songs feel full of life — who needs to practice their scales when your parents’ records collection and an assortment of impassioned karaoke performances of Dionne Warwick, The Carpenters, and the Bee Gees have created such a rich and unpredictable universe of sounds to build upon?

Much has been made about grentperez’s rise from viral YouTube covers performer to a budding Gen Z star. Here’s the story: Encouraged by his older siblings, at just 12 years old he posted his first video to his YouTube channel. Like any kid, he just wanted to get a reaction — and, over time, he got that, generating over 100 million views and 600k subscribers on his channel. He grew more confident and started writing his own music. It started slow (he describes the first song he wrote as “ass”) but he felt it start to come together when he wrote a song for a competition in a church youth group. “I’m still a little salty that it came in second in the competition,” he jokes.

After some more finetuning, his eventual 2021 debut single “Cherry Wine” — an undeniable bossa nova torch song — became an international sensation, hitting the #1 slot on the Spotify Viral Chart in not just his home country of Australia but also Canada and Singapore. The trickle of music became a flood: 2022 brought a pair of EP releases (Conversations with the Moon and Trail Mix), a triple j Like A Version cover session of the School Of Rock song “Teacher’s Pet,” and a sweeping, swooning Christmas single entitled “When Christmas Comes Again” — a total heat check coming from a young songwriter just realizing the breadth of his powers. (There are strings and jingle bells and there’s even a cheesy key change. Even better: it works.)

Which brings us to When We Were Younger, due out in early 2023. Conceived as a means to get out of a songwriting rut (given the hectic release schedule he’s been keeping up, that bout of writer’s block must have lasted all of two weeks), When We Were Younger is a song cycle centered around the concept of nostalgia. This was partly motivated by grentperez’s desire to stave off cynicism and embrace the carefree creativity of childhood. “We would have these super wholesome outdoor writing sessions as we were putting the project together,” he shares. “Connecting with what I remember as a really lovely childhood grounds me in the real world and keeps me thinking of the important friends and family in my life. It keeps me from getting ahead of myself.”

From a production and arrangement standpoint, grentperez also wanted When We Were Young to fuse the signifiers of a wide variety of nostalgic sounds: his beloved bossa nova, yes, but also sprightly Philadelphia soul, the swelling strings of golden-era Hollywood, even the soundtracks and general vibe of 90s romcoms. The bold approach hits once you press play on the EP, as opening track “When We Were Younger (Intro)” busts in with a psychedelic spaghetti western fanfare. “I wanted to try to create a THX-style intro to the project,” he elaborates. “Kind of recreate the childhood thrill of booting up a VHS tape.”

As title track begins, we’re introduced to a familiar bossa nova strum and grentperez’s melodically agile voice. But then the band kicks in and, suddenly, it’s like when The Wizard Of Oz goes from black-and-white to color: grooving bass, galloping castanets, and a choir of call-and-response backing vocals that lend the whole affair a Beatlesque flair. When the horn solo kicks in, you’d be excused for mistaking it for the swirling collage pop of Swedish indie hero Jens Lekman — until the spoken outro and synth harmonies introduce a little Stevie Wonder to the proceedings. It’s an intoxicating track, new tricks unveiling themselves on each listen.

grentperez’s versatility exhibits itself repeatedly. “Stuck On You” is a strumming shuffler that rides sparkling keys and a spotless falsetto to tell a story of an on-again, off-again couple, while “Old With You” is a cozy and classic love song that finds a shockingly satisfying middle path between Michael Buble and Frank Ocean. “Us Without Me,” maybe the most mature composition on the EP, is a drama-rich ballad that constantly ups the tension, first with its delectable chord changes and then with shivering strings. The lyrics are gutting, little reminders of lost love that hit like daggers: “You’re in someone else’s room while mine still smells like your perfume.”

Elsewhere, “Silver Lining” is a stylish patchwork that exemplifies how grentperez can effortlessly bound across genre lines: It sounds like New Jack Swing as performed by a version of Shawn Mendes with an internet obsession and equally worn-out copies of Getz / Gilberto and Mac DeMarco’s 2. Meanwhile, album closer “When The Day Is Done” goes full disco-soul: a punchy syncopated pre-chorus melody lets loose into an unstoppable roller-rink ready boogie. Every lovingly crafted little detail — from the stacked harmonies on the bridge to the roiling congas to that one delayed beat drop in the final chorus — emanates a pure joy.

Throughout When We Were Young, grentperez displays a director’s knack for world-building. While the discrete elements are as disparate as one could imagine, on When We Were Young, it all makes sense together — different musical gestures and lyrics stimulating long-dormant memories while simultaneously providing a soundtrack for new ones.