Gillian Rae Perry was a Composition Fellow with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra who finds influence in many artforms including film, dance, and theater. “A Reminder” is a tune written to serve as a reminder to herself and others that you are loved and that you should not neglect self-compassion.
The song beautifully begins with an orchestral sound design of piano chords, reverberated horn, synth pads, and an intimate voice front and center in the mix. Don’t forget about the piano chirps either, offering a sense of comfort in the midst of an emotive introduction with the reassuring line that “people love you.” The song gorgeously progresses with strings, more horns, all crafted perfectly proving Perry’s great sense of arrangement that flexes her background in composing. The piece is able to balance minimalism along with complexity as the dynamics and sonics change throughout its various sections. It is a nice break from the copy and paste looped digitized approach that has permeated a lot of our music.
The lyrics are nourishing with their repetitive nature delivering lines that “You’re not just the way you are.” A wave of emotions hits you as the low-end frequencies grow to an eventual apex before settling down returning to the intro’s layered quality. This link provides a full circle experience, but with a nice lyrical change that concludes the song on a personal level. This time the vocals sing, “People like me. People love me.”
The music is genuine and sincere. The composition is very impressive. A lot of new artists tend to sound like someone you just listened to, which may just be a bi-product of this over abundantly accessible era of music where access to discovery feels limitless and streaming reigns supreme. Within this context, “A Reminder” is a refreshing piece of work blending various genres while maintaining its own unique voice. The intimacy is strongly felt, allowing the vulnerability of the song to really shine with organic instrumentation and a notably zero auto-tune vocal performance.
Gillian Rae Perry is a great talent that you should be looking out for. We certainly can’t wait to hear what’s next.
Written by Jon Kagan
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