‘Numb Little Bug’ musical starlet releases new single, set to tour in Spring

Written by Alexia Hill

Photos by Lissyelle Laricchia

In a world where authenticity is manufactured, Em Beihold’s inventive and personal pop lyrics are a breath of fresh air to hear.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Beihold began in the hub of the creative industry. The singer explained that she went to a school that put a major emphasis on the arts, and even had teachers who would stay after school to help her with her writing.

Beihold rose to the public’s eye via TikTok, where her song, “Numb Little Bug,” which is about being tired and overwhelmed with life, blew up to stardom status. The song has generated over 500 million global streams, and led her to ranking #1 on the Billboard Emerging Artists Chart.

As an artist transparent with her anxiety and battles with depression, Beihold explained how she felt pressure to continue writing after “Numb Little Bug,” leading to the release of her debut EP, “Egg In The Backseat,” in July 2022.

“The rise of ‘Numb Little Bug’ felt so good but it definitely put my personal relationships in a weird place which I didn't expect. Every song we wrote in the EP wasn't written with an intention of it being on an EP, it was just songs that we wrote with how I was feeling for the days we had scheduled and after ‘Numb Little Bug’ went so crazy it was basically just like, ‘Oh my gosh, we need to put out something, fast.’” Beihold said. “It’s on the same note of keeping the momentum, people just want more music, and we just had all these songs ready so we were like, ‘I guess we can put them all out together.’”

This immense success and simultaneous stress inspired Beihold to not only release her debut EP, but a new single this February entitled, “Roller Coasters Make Me Sad.”

“It was a concept that I had been sitting on with my collaborators since before I left for tour, and even just the title we were talking about because we had a conversation about theme parks and how it relates to the music industry. I was like, ‘Yeah when I get to the top of a roller coaster I don’t get scared I get depressed,’ and they were like, ‘That totally makes sense with everything you’ve been saying about music,’” Beihold said.

“Roller Coasters Make Me Sad” is a song all about the rising expectations and excitement of her musical achievements, and how even being “at the top” can feel low or dreadful among all of the lights and euphoria. The upbeat anthem juxtaposed with her exposing yet whimsical lyrics is the embodiment of Beihold’s blunt artistry.

“I guess in my head I was convinced that when you're successful, all your questions are answered but I didn't realize it can get hard in different ways when you're successful,” Beihold said. “You're just faced with a new set of different problems and not to complain about every step, but the point being you never quite reach the answer even if you get what you want.”

Despite the stress that comes with the transitory rise of popularity, Beihold emphasizes how important her fans are and how surreal it is to perform on stage, with fans singing back her “innermost sad thoughts.”

Beihold, the anti-pop-esque-star-in-the-making, is going on tour this Spring with Lewis Capaldi in North America, a show sure to leave the audience feeling like they’ve peeked into a world like no other.

“It is a goal of mine to have a show where people are like, ‘That's a good show,’ and I think last year it was a lot of learning for me...but you have to be on stage a bunch of times to understand how to have fun,” Beihold said. “As far as musical messages, I always love when people tell me they feel less alone by hearing my music, or they relate to things they didn't know other people thought. I think there's just so many things in society that we don't talk about and I like sort of unveiling the norms that we accept a little too willingly.”

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