You may not be familiar with Liv Miraldi. In days of yore, however, you’d have noticed the Ohio native’s name listed in the liner notes and songwriter credits on LPs and 45s from such artists as Tinashe, Marc E. Bassy, Natalie Jane, Johnny Orlando, Jenna Raine, The Rose, Modsyn and Lily Fitts, among others. (If you don’t recognize them, don’t fret. Just means, like me, you’re old!) She also contributed to Enhypen’s Romance: Untold album, which topped Billboard Top Album Sales and World Albums charts.
She’s been a tunesmith for hire, in other words, helping artists find their sound and sell records and/or accrue plays on the streaming services, working not just in her adopted hometown of L.A. but Norway, Hawaii, Sweden and Germany, too. Along the way, she uploaded snippets to TikTok that turned many ears and placed songs on high-profile playlists plus various Hallmark, MTV, Netflix and VH1 TV shows.
Slated for release on Friday, August 16, her debut EP 2019 casts out the ghosts of what was a tumultuous 12 months for her. In the press release, she explains, “I learned so much in those 365 days—particularly that there are so many ways to have your heart broken, sometimes it’s from a breakup, family, death, or even ourselves. For me it was all of the above. Some stories demand to be written. 2019 is mine.”
The five-song EP includes the recent singles of “Denver,” “Friend of the Family” and “Teeth” alongside the new “Facetime” and “Unfinished Business.” As a whole, they possess a polished sheen and indie-pop sensibility. They remind me at times of the lustrous cuts found on Juliana Hatfield’s In Exile Deo and How to Walk Away albums—high praise, in other words.
“Denver” recalls how a relationship ended with no say from her, while “Friend of the Family” free-falls through her father’s infidelity and its impact on her mom and her. “Teeth” shares how such things stole her joy. The short “Facetime,” for its part, flashes on the new realities she’s facing. The EP closes with “Unfinished Business,” about how she’s still haunted by the events of 2019. It’s an exorcism set to song, just about.
The Old Grey Cat 