Pearz is the evocative project of Italian-born, LA-based multi-instrumentalist Francesco Perini. His sound blends cinematic Italian nostalgia with modern hip hop, electro, French touch, and boogie influences.
After debuting with the EP Nocturnal in 2020, Pearz toured Europe, the UK, Morocco, and the U.S., releasing singles like Social Amnesia, Saudade, and Blue Winter. His debut album, PACIFICO, is out today April 18th, 2025 via Dutch label Bordello A Parigi, on vinyl, and all digital platforms. PACIFICO is the culmination of a five-year journey through the cities that shaped him: the hometown Florence, London (where he lived and played for a decade, along with Tess Parks among others), and Los Angeles. According to him: «Moving to Los Angeles was important for the accomplishment of the record. I built a small studio at home and started focusing again on some ideas I had on the computer. The California climate definitely helped me connecting with different sensations».
Drawing inspiration from a mix of disco music, nu jazz, and Japanese City Pop, PACIFICO reflects his eclectic musical evolution. The title PACIFICO — meaning “peaceful” or “calm” in Italian — embodies the album’s theme of the closing experience of his travels. In his own words: «The tile PACIFICO is a sort of tribute to this moment in my life, in which I faced the final change with a calm that usually does not belong to me, looking towards the end of the West and the beginning of the East, towards this immense sea that bathes the city».
The first single International Lovers (feat. Kuntessa, East London’s DIY queen), broadcasted on BBC Radio, is dedicated to a summer of love between two people who don’t speak the same language. It’s an Italo disco song, with bass and drums as its beating heart, adding flutes, synths, and a final guitar in homage to Alessandro Alessandroni. The story, in an effective mix of English and Italian, tells of two strangers who come from different places and fall in love under the Italian sun. International Lovers is supported by a video created by the acclaimed graphic designer Raissa Pardini, at work for artists such as IDLES, The Orielles and Mystery Jets.
The other song with vocals, on a record for the rest of its tracklist entirely instrumental, is the second single Tropic Of Capricorn feat. VANBASTEN, The voice of Roma’s suburbs. Tropic Of Capricorn is a jam with a live band approach lasting over seven minutes, almost a tribute to the Afrobeat rhythms of Fela Kuti and Tony Allen, with further references to Serge Gainsbourg.
The brand new single Halloumi Amour, PACIFICO‘s irresistible opening track, was composed and performed by Pearz with Natalie Findlay and Jules Apollinaire (Findlay/TTRRUUCES/Suki Waterhouse), during the difficult post-lockdown of 2021, in London, eating halloumi cheese again for the first time since the pandemic after collective songwriting sessions.
The album features indeed collaborations with a diverse range of artists, including also Gimmy El Helou (Monte/The Hacienda), David Bardon, Oscar Robertson (SFJ/SHOLTO), Ruari Meehan (Tess Parks), Luca Landi and Fabio Ricciolo (both of them from Go!Zilla, and Città Deserta), Andrea Palombi (The Hacienda), and Jamie Allen.
Mixed by longtime collaborator Francesco Bondi, PACIFICO captures the essence of Pearz’s musical voyage.
