Perez went viral on TikTok in 2021 for her tracks "Celene"[1] and "Sometimes (Backwood)",[2] prompting Interscope Records to sign her and release her EP How to Catch a Falling Knife.

[6] At the time, she had been ruminating on the idea of a quick infatuation, and wrote the song while playing with her guitar, "kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor" first.

"[7] Perez released the track on July 26, 2024; by August 27, the initial clip had soundtracked over 40,000 videos on the platform and the official audio had been used in over 75,000.

[7] Lucy Harbron of Far Out gave the song a rating of 4.5 out of 5, complimenting both "her utterly unique and stunning voice that is rich with emotion" and "her sharp lyricism that manages to articulate even the trickiest feelings with pure poetry".

The Official Charts Company wrote that it was "a landmark moment to see such a brazen gay love song reach Number 1 in the UK".