The album opens with "The One You Run To," a pretty and sweet number. Check out these lyrics, which begin the song: "Every time the world's going crazy/And you just don't know what to do/Do you ever wonder if maybe/I could be the one you run to." You might recall that ten years ago (when the original version of this album was released) we were going through a rough year. That was the year that took some of our best musicians from us, and was the year that saw the election of perhaps the worst person in this country to its highest office. The world was going crazy. And here we are, a decade later, and we're in even worse shape. Who would have thought then that we'd still be dealing with that criminal? We need this song more now than we did ten years ago. And we need that person we can run to. And to be the person that someone else can run to. This track features some passionate guitar work. It was written by Fernando Perdomo and Chloe Dolandis. It is followed by "Feels," a song Fernando Perdomo has been playing in concert. This one also has a wonderfully pleasant vibe. "Feels, when the stars align/And you blow my mind/You're a perfect find." And in this song he reminds us, "Love is everything." What else is there? This love song has a dreamlike atmosphere. And sometimes love is like that, isn't it? Where we feel we are in an altered space, a dreamlike realm, where we are soothed, where we are relaxed. "Would you like to feel it forever?" Absolutely.
This year Fernando Perdomo is working on his second year-long project, in which he releases an album of new material every month. That project is titled Clouds, and on this album, he has a song titled "Hiding Under Clouds." Much of the music in the Clouds series is wonderfully soothing, with a contemplative vibe. This song opens in a way that feels similar. Its first section, an instrumental section, would be at home on those Clouds discs. And then Fernando moves into the main body of the song, which features a beautiful vocal performance. "She's no longer by my side/But I can see her sitting there/She's hiding under the clouds." That's followed by "Holding Back I Love You's," an interesting song about feeling love, but not wanting to speak of that feeling too soon and wondering, if only for a moment, if the feeling is real. But soon he repeats the line "I love you." Is he perhaps testing out how it sounds? Maybe, but it sounds true. And it feels like he's ready to express it to that special person. This song features a good beat and some excellent work on guitar. By the way, like the Clouds albums, Fernando Perdomo plays all the instruments on this album. That is, on the original tracks, though not on the bonus concert tracks.
"Angel" has an ethereal quality from the beginning, which is fitting for its theme. "Angel, find me/Touch me, love me/Angel, save me." And once the song kicks in, it features some cool work on bass. Also, there is a sense of something glorious during the main instrumental section of the song, heard in the way the music builds, and especially in the guitar work. "In a world without you/There can be no love," Fernando sings in "In A World Without You," and we can all feel in ourselves just what he means. This is another song that Fernando Perdomo has been including in his live performances lately. It's such a great song. He puts it all out there. "In a world without you/I will disappear/In a world without you/There can be no me."
After a short introduction on guitar, "Something's Missing" breaks wide open with a bright energy that takes hold of us. Here he sings, "But I don't want to start anew/I just want to apologize to you/And smile again with you/I feel like something's missing in my world/I feel like something's missing in my world." This song is another of the disc's highlights. There is a Beatles influence heard here, and the track contains some great stuff on guitar. It was written by Fernando Perdomo and Chris Alvy. "Stay With The Friends" has a strong energy and a positive vibe. "Stay with those who are true/Who appreciate you/No matter what you do/Stay with the friends." The word "friends" has been marred by its use on a certain social website, where it means basically "anyone you've ever met that you want to stay in touch with, along with several people you haven't met." Its impact, its importance has been lost, but those of us old enough to remember a time before social media know just how important friends are, and what they mean. This song is about real friends. It was written by Fernando Perdomo and Stephen Kalinich.
"Smile" has an interesting and appealing pulse at its center. "Where did you go, what did you do/Sadness don't look good on you/Smile, smile, smile/Even if it hurts." There is something special about this song, it immediately finds a home in my head, where it is welcomed. I love it, and the more I listen to it, the more I love it. I highly recommend checking it out. And speaking of home, that song is followed by "Home." I know I've mentioned this before, but I've never come across a bad, or even mediocre, song titled "Home." I really need to make a mix CD of songs with that title. Certainly Fernando Perdomo's "Home" deserves a featured spot on it. "Home...home is wherever you are/Home can be out in the stars/Home can be Venus or Mars." This track features a beautiful vocal performance. "Home" is another song that Fernando Perdomo has been playing at his shows. After the shockingly devastating fires here in Los Angeles, he used this song to raise money for those who lost their homes (I personally know eleven people who lost their Altadena homes; there was a great music community there). This song is also sometimes titled "Home Is Wherever You Are," and it is another of this album's gems.
The music then goes in a different direction with "Sequence 0045," which has an electronic sound as it opens. Then, as it kicks in, it becomes a kind of odd dance song. This is an instrumental number. If you've been following Fernando Perdomo's career, you know that instrumental material makes up a significant part of his body of work, what with last year's Waves series and this year's Clouds albums. This song isn't entirely instrumental, however, as there is some vocal work in the second half, though no lyrics, the voice becoming part of the musical landscape. And the rest of the tracks that were included on the original release are also instrumentals. "Life In The Sea" has a cool, positive vibe, with a good bass line and some interesting percussion. It's a fun number. Then there is something of a 1970s vibe to "Cruiser," another song with a sense of fun about it, with short, bright bursts of sound and energy. In the second half, it really takes off, featuring some excellent guitar work, and ends up being another of the album's highlights.
"Voyeurs," the album's title track, is, yes, an instrumental number, and it begins in a somewhat darker, more somber place than the previous tracks. The drums feel almost like shots when they first come in. And as the song kicks in, it takes on a strong progressive rock vibe. Eventually you realize this track has its grip on your throat. Then "Sunday Afternoon" has a much more pleasant vibe, with some nice work on acoustic guitar. This music takes me to a better place, and I wish it went on a little longer, let me remain in those memories. Fernando Perdomo enters jazzier territory with "Sketchbook," a delicious track with a great rhythm. That followed by "Waltz For Doug Burris." With this track, a delightful, enchanting place opens us before us. This one features some wonderful guitar work, inviting us into a light, youthful dance. And that's how the original album concluded.
The rest of the tracks are new to this tenth anniversary edition, all recorded live at Troubadour in 2016. For these tracks, Fernando Perdomo is backed by Matt Tecu, Emeen Zarookian and Paul Mauradjian. Fernando introduces himself at the beginning of this track, adding "It's incredible to be playing this venue." This is a good version of the song, featuring a fantastic lead on guitar. It's followed by the album's lead track, "The One You Run To." The sound isn't perfect on this track, but the performance is excellent. Then we are treated to a live version of "Smile," which makes me happy. This song is becoming a favorite of mine. Certain songs just hit us, speak to us at a level that it's difficult to articulate, and this song is doing that for me. I imagine it will do that for many of you too. That's followed by "Home." There is a bit of crackling in the sound at times, but this song is so damn good, and this version has a glorious power that feels like it can unite us all. We do share a home, don't we? There is an odd cut, where Fernando is in the process of introducing the band and suddenly we find ourselves in "Something's Missing." The energy is there in this performance. Certainly that's not missing. This live rendition has a fantastic ending. The disc concludes with its one cover, Chris Bell's "I Am The Cosmos." Fernando Perdomo delivers a wonderful rendition. He and his band jam a bit at the end.
CD Track List
- The One You Run To
- Feels
- Hiding Under Clouds
- Holding Back I Love You's
- Angel
- In A World Without You
- Something's Missing
- Stay With The Friends
- Smile
- Home
- Sequence 0045
- Life In The Sea
- Cruiser
- Voyeurs
- Sunday Afternoon
- Sketchbook
- Waltz For Doug Burris
- Holding Back I Love You's
- The One You Run To
- Smile
- Home
- Something's Missing
- I Am The Cosmos
Voyeurs 10 Year Anniversary Edition was released on May 5, 2026.
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