A Quick Chat with Liliana De La Rosa

Glass Skin feels like a clear evolution in your sound and world-building. What shifted creatively for you between this release and your earlier singles Haunted by Roses and High Like Heaven?

Glass Skin is definitely a continuation of the world I’ve been building. Whilst it still has my signature ethereal touch, it’s slightly sharper, visceral and self-aware than my earlier singles. It explores feminine rage, identity and overall, rebirth. It’s my first song released that includes commentary on societal structures that have been put in place to control and make women feel like they don’t have a voice. I will always be a huge advocate for women and women in the industry, so it feels really special to release something of this medium that is not only a personal experience for me, but to a large scale of people too.

You’ve described Glass Skin as exploring feminine rage, identity and rebirth. What personal experiences or emotions were you drawing from when writing this track?

Around this time last year, I found myself in the ‘glass skin trend’ corner of TikTok, where the overconsumption of skincare products and ‘top hacks’ to reach unobtainable levels of perfection were prevalent. Another societal beauty standard designed to make women feel permanently ‘unfinished.’

It inspired the name of the song. I then spent significant time revisiting my memory bank of experiences as a young woman, and particularly a woman in the industry, that filled me with feminine rage. I was exploring anger not as something ugly, but as something transformative and empowering. I was also in a period in my life where taking back my power was of utmost importance. It’s been truly an invigorating experience.

The track moves through vulnerability, empowerment and vengeance. Was that emotional arc intentional from the beginning, or did it emerge as the song developed?

The vulnerability moving into empowerment arrived really naturally when composing the song. I let it flow through me rather than trying to control too much of my natural creative instincts, especially when working with real emotions that aren’t linear. Sometimes vulnerability becomes anger, and anger becomes clarity. Adding vengeance into the mix through the use of an excerpt from the poem ‘A Poison Tree’ by William Blake, one of my favourite poems, was definitely a purposeful artistic choice that tied the overarching story together. By the end of the song, there’s this feeling of reclamation and a femme-fatale like danger, which is what I love the most about it.

There’s a strong cinematic and visual identity across your work. How did you approach translating Glass Skin into its hyper-stylised music video, and what story did you want to tell visually?

I wanted to approach the music video with surrealism and symbolism rather than literal as I felt it would bring the lyrics to life in the best possible light. When dealing with darker themes, I think creating a hyper-stylised world can often have the hugest impact as it leaves room for creative choices being open for interpretation, and I love having that kind of mystery.

Creating the production design with the chains and puppet strings was how I wanted to symbolise oppression and control. The use of fire, the metal sword and the beautiful chainmail and shell designs I wore were used to create the juxtaposition of reclaiming power and rebirth. Overall, I just wanted to visually create a story that could let feminine rage and power run free!

The idea of fragility versus fire runs through the single. What does “Glass Skin” symbolise for you personally?

Glass is beautiful and reflective, but it can also shatter, melt and become dangerous. The idea of ‘burning down’ glass is really the overarching symbolism of the song. Personally, it represented burning down the societal and patriarchal systems that have been designed to oppress women, such as the ‘glass ceiling’ which is the invisible, unwritten barrier that prohibits women from advancing toward the top of a hierarchical corporation. The title Glass Skin represents the duality of femininity and rage existing together.

This release marks the beginning of a two-part narrative leading into Blood Red Pearl. What can listeners expect from this next chapter of your world?

According to some personal sources, Blood Red Pearl is my best song yet… but I’ll let the listeners decide that! Blood Red Pearl came spontaneously when working on Glass Skin with my producer Chunky Luv. We were in session and the original ending of Glass Skin we realised was the start of a whole new song. So keep your eyes peeled folks, the sirens are coming ashore.