Norwegian alternative and indie-pop singer-songwriter Marie Ulven, best known as “girl in red,” just released her debut album, if i could make it go quiet, last Friday.
Who is girl in red?
Girl in red started gaining popularity back in 2018 thanks to her homemade bedroom pop songs. After catching the attention of people all around the world, she stayed true to her vision and kept doing what she loved: writing songs about queer romance and mental health.
Prior to if i could make it go quiet, she released two EPs. Her first EP, Chapter 1, came out in 2018 and its continuation, Chapter 2, followed up in 2019.
The Start Of The if i could make it go quiet Era
Girl in red started the era that would lead up to this debut album exactly one year ago. The track “Midnight love” stood out to fans because girl in red wrote it from the perspective of the person the song is about, not hers. She shared on Apple Music, “I had a friend that would always get a guy over late at night. Then he would leave in the morning and they would never hang out during daytime. It was really getting to her. I was like, ‘Oh, this reminds me of someone.’ I was that dude who would just call someone when I felt like ‘I need this and I know that you are able to give it to me, so therefore I will call you.’ I’d never had any bad intentions. But I was able to realize a few things about myself.”
The next single off her debut album arrived four months later. “Rue” is a heartfelt song girl in red wrote to her sister. She reveals to sibling that she’s grateful for everything she has done to help her during hard times. “I’m singing to my sister. I had to sleep in her bed for weeks straight because I’ve just been so scared. Every time I was about to fall asleep, I felt like my heart stopped beating, so I’d want to be in her bed in case I died.”
She continued, “I’ve just been completely all over the place. This is singing to my family and loved ones that I want to get better. I’m trying to leave it all behind. I don’t want to make it worse for you guys. It’s also about realizing that you have to do the work. If you want to get better mentally, or if you struggle with depression or anxiety, it’s such a heavy realization figuring out that it’s you who has to do it,” she explained on Apple Music.
Breaking Records With “Serotonin”
Lastly, her hit song “serotonin” has already broke records within the short two months that it has been out. Maybe it is because of its eccentric lyrics. Or maybe because of its upbeat indie melody. It could even be because of the outro being sung in Norwegian. Maybe it’s partially to thank of the production by FINNEAS. The song has almost reached 20 million streams on Spotify alone and the music video just came out alongside the album, as well.
Girl in red commented, “Intrusive thoughts can be really scary and make you feel really crazy if you don’t know what they are, where they’re coming from and how to deal with them. It was so liberating, knowing that I’m not crazy and that I don’t want to do these things, and then I just felt like I was over it almost. Then I wrote the song. It was just a weird journey figuring out the rap parts, but they came really quick. It was not a hard time writing those lyrics. They poured out of me.”
If i could make it go quiet includes a total of 11 songs, featuring these three. You can stream them on your favorite platform or listen to them for free on girl in red’s YouTube channel.
girl in red’s If i could make it go quiet tracklist:
- Serotonin
- Did you Come?
- Body And Mind
- hornylovesickmess
- midnight love
- You Stupid B*tch
- rue
- Apartment 402
- .
- I’ll Call You Mine
- it would feel like this
