If I Could Make It Go Quiet

Under the moniker girl in red, then-bedroom pop recordist Marie Ulven broke through in a big way with the assertive lesbian anthem i wanna be your girlfriend in 2018, eventually resulting in a viral social-media euphemism for identifying as queer: Do you listen to the girl in red? In 2021, now a full-fledged pop star, she turns up the volume, production sheen, and angst on her debut album, if I could make it go quiet. Co-produced by Ulven and Matias Tellez, it features additional production by Finneas on opening track Serotonin, a candid, self-examining work of anthemic pop that slips in and out of ranting, bass-cranked raps and more-patient melodic hooks. As is the case for most of the album, its produced in bold, tension-filled strokes designed, much like the lyrics, for catharsis. The songwriter goes on to defy social etiquette with more of her direct lyrics about sex, desire, and self-loathing on songs with titles sure to offend or at least embarrass a few parents. More-demure tracks, like the second halfs . and Apartment 402, are also less memorable, though a song like Ill Call You Mine successfully combines hooks, handclaps, and sincerity. This balance was well-received in places like Norway, the Netherlands, the U.K., Ireland, and Australia, where if I could make it go quiet debuted in the Top Ten. ~ Marcy Donelson