“I stopped eatin’ / I’ve been grievin’ / I don’t know what day it is / I’m too busy feeling sick to my stomach,” Liv Miraldi sings at the start of her new single, Teeth, out today. The Ohio-born, LA-based singer-songwriter has been making waves as of late with viral hits like Wingwoman and Same People, but as she tells us in this song, not all that glitters is gold. Because, even though from the outside her life might look wonderful, successful, and blissful, it hasn’t always been like that.
Speaking of how Teeth came to be and the inspiration behind her heartfelt lyrics, Liv shares: “The song is a cautionary tale about how things can look perfect from the outside, but you never truly know what’s going on in someone’s personal life. I was at my lowest during this time, grappling with profound heartbreak, loss, and depression; but, from social media all you would see is that I’d signed a publishing deal, moved to LA, and was living ‘the dream.’” Indeed, most of us try to show to the world the best of us, but that might not always reflect the full spectrum of our realities.
Opening up and allowing herself to be vulnerable in front of her audience, Liv Miraldi gifts us with a song with lyrics as poignant as “I moved away / same shit / new state / nothing looks the way they promised / pity party in my new apartment” or “Little me in the pictures / man, I really miss her / I’m wondering what she would say if she knew / I don’t smile with my teeth anymore / I don’t have that lust for life anymore / not who I was before” Her candid voice is imbued with her innate charisma, which is accompanied by a simple production with few instruments that help us put attention into what she’s saying and, more especially, what she’s trying to convey. As the saying goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Or, in this case, a famous person for what you see on social media.