by Ava Bratejka Lindberg
photo courtesy of genius.com
If you think the name girl in red sounds familiar, it might be due to the incredible success of her single ‘we fell in love in october.’ It charted at no. 14 in the US and cemented 22-year-old Marie Ulven Ringheim as an essential artist in the queer parts of social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter.
Her debut album, if i could make it go quiet, proves that girl in red is here to stay, and that there is no doubt about her abilities as a songwriter and overall musician.
At first glance, the album might seem like your standard lo-fi album, but at a closer look, one must admit that the album is so much more. Undoubtedly, the magnum opus of the album – and of girl in red – is ‘Body And Mind,’ in which lyrics, that express complete hopelessness in realising personhood, are paired with an upbeat repetitive synth beat. The track encompasses the feel of the album; it is simultaneously a further exploration of girl in red’s usual subject matter, struggling with mental illness and dark emotions, and proof that she has not run out of things to say. if i could make it go quiet leaves you feeling grateful that Ringheim did not succeed in doing so.
Concluding in the instrumental ‘it would feel like this,’ the album leaves you with a yearning for more of girl in red’s unique sound and lyrics.
