New album from Girl in Red: Not just red anymore

Girl in Red is the queer poster girl of Generation Z. With her new album, the Norwegian indie musician diversifies her sound and text messages.

No longer just wants to be the melancholic singer-songwriter: Girl in Red Photo: Heather Hazzan

Marie Ulven is lying in bed. The Norwegian artist briefly has to think about which city she is in. “I’m currently in…Tennessee, where rehearsals for my current tour are currently underway,” explains the 25-year-old.

The young woman looks a bit sleepy, she has pulled the beige hoodie over her head and briefly pans her camera around the room. An intimate moment with one of the biggest pop stars of Generation Z, if it weren’t for the employees of her label who check that the time slot of a maximum of 20 minutes is adhered to.

Four years ago, Ulven, aka Girl in Red, became the queer poster girl of the young generation. She has become known for her melancholic indie pop songs that address queer desire, infatuation and mental health. She recorded her early songs in her childhood bedroom in the small Norwegian town of Horten and then uploaded them to Soundcloud.

The question “Do you listen to Girl in Red?” became a common code question on Tiktok, with which users of the strictly regulated Chinese social media platform exchange ideas about their own queer identities. The song “We Fell in Love in October” has almost a billion streams on Spotify. “My girl, my girl, my girl / you will be my world,” she sings in the chorus over dancing guitar riffs in her gentle voice.

In 2022 she released the follow-up song “October Passed Me By”, which offered the tragic resolution. The young love that Ulven celebrated in the first song ended in heartbreak in the second.

Opening act for Taylor Swift

With her second album, Ulven wants to free herself from the label of melancholic singer-songwriter. The work is called “I’m Doing It Again Baby”. In the meantime, she wasn’t exactly idle. Since the release of her debut “If I Could Make It Go Quiet” in 2021, she has toured extensively throughout the USA and Europe, and last year she opened for her US idol Taylor Swift. A lot also seems to have happened in her private life. She now lives in Oslo with her friend and their border collie.

“I’m feeling much better now. I think it has to do with getting older,” explains Ulven. Already on her debut album she dealt openly with the topic of mental health. In the song “Serotonin” she sang about obsessive thoughts, depression and anxiety.

In the opening song of the new album, “I’m Back”, she takes up the topic again. His message is more positive and less complex than in the songs from the previous album. “I’m back, I feel like myself / I was gone for a minute / Cos I went to get help / It’s not like I wanna die / At least not now, I love being alive,” she sings to muted piano chords with her rough voice. “I want to highlight the small successes of everyday life and convey a more positive view of life,” she says of the song’s lyrics.

Collect and process feelings

The production is minimalist, in contrast to the nine other songs on the album. Ulven swapped her home studio in Bergen for the 48-track super studio Electric Ladyland in New York. No wonder that the production now sounds more confident, poppy and radio-friendly than that of the debut. The snotty pop-punk interludes in “Phantom Pain” are reminiscent of Olivia Rodrigo, the optimistic pop rap of “A Night to Remember” is reminiscent of, well, Taylor Swift.

Instead of singing about unfulfilled queer desire, Ulven addresses her relationship with a woman. Although this romance is not carefree. “A Night to Remember” is about the night she met her friend. In “Pick Me” she asserts herself against a rival. “Why are you leaving with him? / I guess he’s got something I can’t give,” she sings in a pleading voice over an effervescent piano run and pulsating electronic beats.

How do the private individuals addressed in the lyrics actually deal with Ulven’s open-hearted lyrics? “My girlfriend and I talked about it. She knows that my song lyrics are anchored in reality, but definitely use storytelling techniques. I exaggerate, add things, and practice worldbuilding. I gather feelings and try to think of what other people might feel.”

Newfound self-confidence

Ulven skillfully captures chaotic emotions with her singing and conveys them expressively. She sings about jealousy, being in love and insecurities, but also about her newfound self-confidence.

However, her emotional ambivalence is noticeable in the song’s lyrics. They lack the naive and authentic coming-of-age character that the predominantly queer target group could identify with.

Ulven is well aware that she could alienate some of her old fans with her new album. “I have to inform my fans that my music sounds different now. “It’s a bit like when I updated my Facebook profile picture in 12th grade,” she reflects.

So now we see a confident pop singer who no longer wants to define herself solely by being queer and her mental wellness. She deleted the question “Do you listen to Girl in Red?” from her status.