| Skin of My Teeth | |
| Cover: | Demi Lovato - SKIN OF MY TEETH (single cover).jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Demi Lovato |
| Album: | Holy Fvck |
| Recorded: | January 2022 |
| Genre: |
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| Length: | 2:42 |
| Label: | Island |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Breakdown |
| Prev Year: | 2021 |
| Next Title: | Substance |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
"Skin of My Teeth" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato from her eighth studio album, Holy Fvck (2022). It was released on June 10, 2022, by Island Records, as the lead single from the record. She co-wrote the song with Oak Felder, Alex Niceforo, Keith "Ten4" Sorrells, Laura Veltz, and Lil Aaron, while its production was handled by the former three. A rock, pop-punk, and grunge track, "Skin of My Teeth" contains lyrics about society's criticisms about addictions and drug rehabilitation, as well as Lovato's own struggles. Its title references the biblical phrase of the same name.
The song received positive reviews from music critics, many of whom lauded its theme and the singer's vocals, drawing comparisons to the works of Hole—specifically their 1998 single "Celebrity Skin"—and Lady Gaga. The song failed to chart on the US Hot 100 or any major music chart internationally, although it appeared on parallel charts in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Nick Harwood directed the music video for "Skin of My Teeth", released alongside the song. It features Lovato confronting an ominous figure representing addiction and the media, as well as scenes of the singer performing with an electric guitar shooting out sparks. To support its release, Lovato premiered the track on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. She included it on the regular set list of her seventh concert tour, the Holy Fvck Tour (2022), and performed it at several festivals.
In early 2022, Demi Lovato announced her departure from pop music as she held a "funeral" for it on her social media accounts.[1] The announcement included a photo with her team, including Scooter Braun, dressed in all-black.[2] Lovato started teasing what would be her eighth studio album, and told Rolling Stone that it would have some "heaviness" in its sound.[3] The magazine asked her if she was coming back to her "rock, emo early days", and she answered, "That, but better". While sharing teasers of then-unreleased songs,[4] she wrote on Instagram stories that she was "so proud" of her new music,[5] and said that it was her "absolute best yet".[6] She labeled it as her return to her rock and pop-punk roots which she had experimented with on her first two albums, Don't Forget (2008) and Here We Go Again (2009).[7] [8] She described it as a "new era reminiscent of [her] first era".[9]
On May 23, 2022, after several speculations, Lovato confirmed in a Twitter exchange that the lead single off the album would be called "Skin of My Teeth".[10] Days later, the song's release date and cover artwork, were revealed; the image features Lovato with dark makeup and an all-black outfit with spikes and chains. On the same date, Lovato published a video with mock newspaper headlines about her, with the song playing in the background. The singer announced the release of Holy Fvck on June 6.[11] "Skin of My Teeth" was released on June 10 for digital download and streaming.[12] Its release was promoted by billboards.[13]
The track was produced by Oak Felder, co-produced by Alex Niceforo and Keith Sorrells, and written by Lovato and the three alongside Laura Veltz and Lil Aaron. All of them also provided background vocals. It was mastered by Chris Gehringer, while Oscar Linnander handled production assistance and recording. Manny Marroquin mixed it with assistance from Zach Pereyra, Trey Station, and Anthony Vilchis.[14]
Recorded in January 2022,[15] "Skin of My Teeth" is a electric guitar-driven[16] rock, pop-punk,[17] and grunge[18] song. Described by Stereogum as "bright, fired-up arena-level", it references Lovato's struggles with substance abuse,[19] with citation of drug rehabilitation and wanting to be free but failing due to the disease she was enduring.[20] In its lyrics, Lovato declares that she escaped death "by the skin of [her] teeth", a reference to the biblical phrase that describes a situation from which one has barely managed to escape. Lovato previously opened up about becoming sober following her near-fatal overdose in 2018 on her documentary , published three years after.[21] [22]
In the song's annotations on Genius, Lovato stated that the opening line of "Skin of My Teeth"—"Demi leaves rehab again"—references a rehab visit: "It was a headline that I saw multiple times and I just felt like it was no one’s business".[23] She also described as emotive the lyric "I'm your son and I'm your daughter, I'm your mother, I'm your father", which is meant to humanize addiction as a struggle that many individuals face.[24]
Music critics found similarities between "Skin of My Teeth" and the 1998 single "Celebrity Skin" by American band Hole.[25] [26] NPR also compared the vocal affectations of the song with "Born This Way" by American singer Lady Gaga. They also described "Skin of My Teeth" as a fun listening experience and praised Lovato as having a "level of camp" in her art with genuineness and commitment to her music, unlike "other pop-punk revivalists". Stereogum Tom Breihan also noted this, praising Lovato for not having "the fake edginess" of other contemporary musicians of the genre. The critic continued praising Lovato's "huge voice". Ellise Shafer from Variety described the lyrics of "Skin of My Teeth" as "brutally honest", with "Lovato's powerhouse vocals urgently conveying [her] most upfront lyricism yet". Danielle Chelosky for Uproxx also lauded her vocals for being "brazen and unafraid".
Loudwire praised the track for tackling addiction, and described it as having "an immediate sense of urgency, opening with two snare hits and some chord strumming" after which Lovato begins to sing in a sardonic vocal tone. The guitar tones in the song have "weight to them" with a "bouncing energy" that is reminiscent of "artists such as Pat Benatar and Joan Jett." The magazine also ranked the single as the 68th best rock song of the year.[27] Writing for Insider Inc., Callie Ahlgrim included "Skin of My Teeth" on the list of the biggest snubs of the 65th Annual Grammy Awards nominations.[28]
The official music video for "Skin of My Teeth" premiered on June 10, 2022. It was directed by Nick Harwood and produced by Shayna Giannelli.[29] The video begins with Lovato singing from a bathtub as an ominous figure reads headlines about her recent visit to rehab and stalks her with a camera. Eventually, the pair come face to face in a confrontation that Lovato wins, while she ends the song with a rain sequence that features her electric guitar shooting out sparks.[30] Vulture Wolfgang Ruth said that the image of the figure haunting Lovato while sitting in a bathtub represented addictions,[31] while iHeartRadio Rebekah Gonzalez said that it could be a personification of the media.[32] Regarding Lovato's dressing, Breihan found similarities with Joan Jett.
Lovato performed "Skin of My Teeth" for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon hours before release. She appeared wearing all black, accompanied by a matching guitar, and surrounded by fog.[33] Chelosky described the performance as cathartic and "stronger than ever". Lovato included "Skin of My Teeth" in the regular set list of her seventh concert tour, the Holy Fvck Tour, in 2022, as the last song before the encore.[34] Subsequently, she performed it at the 2022 edition of the Brazilian festival Rock in Rio, and also at the Illinois State Fair and Iowa State Fair.[35]
Credits obtained from Lovato's official website.[36]
| Peak position | |
| New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[37] | 19 |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Sales (OCC)[38] | 58 |