Marie Ulven has been sharing impeccable (“Bad Idea“), sometimes surreal (“Dead Girl in the Pool“) songs for a few years now under the moniker girl in red. A few days ago she announced her highly anticipated debut album titled if i could make it go quiet that will be available April 30 on AWAL, and today she’s given us its lead single “Serotonin.” The track opens with a curling guitar melody followed by Ulven detailing the terrifying possibility that we’re indebted to every horribly, passive thought that creeps through our minds. “I get intrusive thoughts / Like cutting my hands off / Like jumping in front of a bus / Like how do I make this stop,” she raps. Yes, she raps, mimicking the chaotic whirl of impulsive mind flow.
“Serotonin” is reassurance that all our minds work in wild and unpredictable ways. Sometimes it can be extremely frightening. Like several of her prior releases, girl in red works to break the stigma of mental illness and the isolation others might be feeling as a result. In turn, working alongside Finneas and Matias Tellez, she took the shadowy crevices of her mind and turned them into a stomping pop song.
In a statement about the album, Ulven explained that she’s only trying to make sense of it all: “if i could make it go quiet is an attempt to learn what it’s like to be human; to deal with the scariest parts of myself; to live with the pain of knowing i’m only flesh and bones; to be angry, broken and unforgiving yet still able to wear my heart on my sleeve; i’m shedding light on the darkest parts of my mind and i’m letting everyone in; if i could make it go quiet is me simply trying to understand what the fuck is going on.”
Listen to “Serotonin” below.
