About
Liya Shapiro is a London-based singer-songwriter exploring the depths of love, identity, mental health and emotional fragility through her music. Moving between alternative rock, dream pop and post-punk, her sound is immersive and cinematic – a reflection of a post-genre approach that favours honesty over convention. At once delicate and defiant, Liya’s songs linger in the space between yearning and self-reclamation, inviting listeners into a world shaped by longing, loneliness and the search for meaning.
Liya’s musical journey began with Mirror, a soulful reflection on vulnerability and first heartbreak. But it was her single The Thing that marked her arrival as a distinct voice – a slow-burning descent into emotional confusion, fusing shadowy synths and dissonant guitars with poetic ambiguity. Rose Garden, her third single, introduced a more romantic tone, drawing on dream pop textures and nostalgic lyricism to explore time, memory and the fleeting nature of youth.
Her next release, Burning Bridges, pushed her artistry into darker, more chaotic territory, marking the beginning of a new chapter in her creative journey. A visceral exploration of self-destruction and survival, it begins as a delicate piano ballad before fracturing into explosive, guitar-driven rock. This track captures the tumultuous nature of an emotional collapse, alternating between whispered vulnerability and fierce sonic ruptures.
Liya's latest single, Hold Me Tight, revealed a more confident and sensual side of her artistry while remaining tethered to longing. A groovy, guitar-driven pop-rock anthem, it transforms verses written years ago in the wake of unrequited love into something newly self-aware and hopeful. The track pairs confessional intimacy with sultry swagger, moving between vulnerability and assertion as it turns old wounds into momentum.
At the moment, she is preparing to release her debut EP, preceded by an eponymous single. This body of work will introduce a new trajectory, showcasing a sonic niche Liya strives to inhabit from now on. While adamant not to completely abandon her genre-fluid approach, the London-based singer has finally found a sense of belonging in chamber rock. Going back to her roots and revisiting the world of classical music – a move largely influenced by her mother, a violinist and conductor – feels particularly natural. It's like everything has finally fallen into place.
Her songwriting is deeply personal yet invites projection. The lyrics are intimate but never didactic, allowing listeners to find their own reflections in them. There’s a cinematic quality to everything she creates – each track feels like a still from a larger film. Through her music, Liya builds a world that’s atmospheric, emotionally charged and unmistakably her own. She is not afraid to be vulnerable, not afraid to be strange, not afraid to hurt, creating songs that feel less like products and more like portals – haunting, immersive and very human.
