Fresh from landing on the BBC Sound of 2021 list, girl in red will release her debut album ‘if i could make it go quiet’ on April 30th.
Since breaking through with ‘i wanna be your girlfriend’ in 2018, the 22-year-old Norwegian singer – real name Marie Ulven - has racked up more than a billion streams of her unapologetic indie pop anthems; her recent single 'Seratonin' was even produced by none other than Finneas.
Ahead of the album's release, we learned more about her various routines and her likes and dislikes.
1. What's the music that you listened to growing up, that you still listen to today?
I don’t listen to much music I listened to when i was growing up. I still have my playlist and I still listen to it now and then, like a rare time, or a special occasion. We all go in there and listen to the old stuff, but it’s not something I do that often.
2. In three words, describe the minute before you walk on stage.
Nervous as hell.
3. How do you wind down after a gig?
That is really hard because it’s like you had an hour of insane dopamine and it’s really hard to calm down and sort of keep going - like that wasn’t just the best hour of your life!
4. What’s the one song you wish you’d written first?
Probably my favourite song called ‘Leave This Behind’ by a band called Lovelier Other. I feel like I could’ve written that.
5. What’s the last thing you watched on TV?
I can’t remember, I don't really watch TV! I really want a TV though, because I recently got some friends that just refer to television shows all the time and I'm like ‘I don't know what you guys are talking about.'
6. Name one record and one film that everyone should hear / see.
One record would be ‘Songs’ by Adrianne Lenker - it's a really beautiful folk-type album. A movie everyone should see is this Danish movie I've been recommending to people – it's called 'Another Round' in English. It’s a really great Danish movie about three men not feeling very happy in life and then what they try to do with that. it’s a really, really fun movie, and sad and beautiful.
7. What's your biggest pet peeve?
Loud chewing is my pet peeve. Not chewing with an open mouth, but really loud chewing that’s fully inside your mouth!
8. Who's the most famous person saved to your phone contacts?
I don't know, I'm not very good at saving numbers! I don't text people on my phone.
9. You're ordering take-away, what do you get?
Pizza, anytime!
10. Describe your perfect day off.
My perfect day off would be waking up, having a really chill morning, have my coffee and then walk my dog. Then do everything at my own pace. I’m a very slow person when it comes to how I want my day to roll out, so I really thrive when I get to just spend three hours on getting ready and eating breakfast.
BONUS QUESTION: Recommend a podcast and tell us why we should subscribe to it.
I've heard one podcast that I followed for a bit! It's called 'We Bought A House' and it's by FINNEAS, the producer, and his girlfriend Claudia, who is a YouTuber. I just thought it was really fun listening to their chemistry and listening to their podcast.
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‘if i could make it go quiet’ is released on April 30th.