Girl in Red often seems fearless. From her raw first single I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend, Marie Ulven has laid everything bare in desperately romantic queer love songs and blunt, honest lyrics about depression. Her full-band live shows are almost reckless: at her 2022 Glastonbury performance, she plunged into the mosh pit, mic still on.
Since that debut, the Norwegian singer-songwriter has evolved her lo-fi indie rock into widescreen alt-pop – but this maximalist second album, arriving after her support slot on Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, heralds Ulven’s first real bid for big pop theatrics. It’s also a 10-track rebuttal to a lover who tried to make her feel small: “I toned myself down for you / Volume one almost mute,” she sings on lead single Too Much, before brash, jarring synths stab angrily through the pre-chorus.
The outlandish title track is confidence at full volume. Cartoonish “whoosh” noises, a banjo breakdown and a retro guitar solo make it a wild foil for Ulven’s swagger: “I’m on a new level!” Colourful production (by Ulven and Matias Tellez) lends quirky touches throughout – synth pop Phantom Pain segues into lush strings and birdsong, and then pummelling percussion – but also a Disneyfied, saccharine feel to the record’s softer songs, watering down their candid lyrics. Pick Me has the potential to be a showstopper, but glosses over Ulven’s visceral vocals. I’m Doing It Again Baby! takes big, bold swings. Some of them miss. But risk, as Ulven sings on typically frank opener I’m Back, is “all part of being alive”.
