Norway’s most candid pop star Girl in Red: ‘One journalist asked me what meds I’m on’
What do you do when, having made your name writing sad indie-pop songs about depression, you find yourself suddenly happy? This question niggled at Norwegian singer-songwriter Marie Ulven as she began work on her second album. After all, it’s her music about mental disturbance, queer yearning and macabre intrusive thoughts that racks up 17 million monthly listeners on Spotify, her songs about feeling unloved and unwell that took her from Soundcloud obscurity to on tour with Taylor Swift.
“All of my music has been these sad mental health-y songs so when I was in a better place, it was like… Oh no, I’m ,” the 25-year-old says. We’re chatting in London over a “champion’s breakfast” of sausage, hash browns, mushrooms, beans, bacon, and toast. “There’s no avocado, right?” she says, turning to the waiter in a quiet corner of an east London hotel. “It’s a new allergy. I ate
