Written Before Listen
Girl In Red turns out to be a Norwegian indie singer that has been making waves recently. I decided to give it a shot due to the amount of recognition or to some, “Notoriety” she’s been getting. Im coming into this album with mid expectations but like always, I hope my expectations exceed.
Themes
Let me start on who girl in red is and what she talks about. She usually talks about love in a more raunchy level…Well thats original. Honestly, There are dozens and dozens of female singers doing their melancholic ballads. Weyes Blood, FKA twigs, Beach House, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Phoebe Bridgers and Angel Olsen just to name a few. Thematically, there is nothing new here.
Lyrics
When it comes to girl in reds music, I think lyrics are her strongest suit. Despite being thematically dull, her lyrics are pretty detailed. The opening track “Seratonin” talks about “cutting [her] hands off” and “jumping in front of a bus”. The track “Body And Mind” shows girl in red trying to find self-love and trying to do it in some strange ways. “Apartment 402” shows girl in red avoiding society and staying in her Apartment. As you can see, a lot of her lyrics do show some interesting topics and having it come from a contrary standpoint to the norms is quite unique. The problem comes when she makes it insanely clear, basic and brutally inconsistent. A song like “Did You Come” is basically a song about being cheated on but some of the lyrics just come off as nonsensical or made up. That line about being illiterate is some overly-far thinking claim from her. I also think the line about making her come twenty times is showing why “You Stupid Bitch” is catching her in a lie. If that isn’t evidence, maybe “hornylovesickness” is. Overall, I see girl in red as a potentially strong lyricist but there are definitely points here that make you open your eyes to the opposite side.
Vocal Performance
One thing that caught me on this album was girl in red’s vocal performance. It’s not the most bold and ambitious but not super mellow and calm either. It’s right in between. Personally, I think her style works on some songs here like “Midnight Love” and “Ill Call You Mine” but there are too many songs to name where her vocal performance is dull and flat. I just don’t see the uniqueness in her vocals yet.
Production
I think the worst part about this album is the generic production. A lot of basic instruments, chords and structures appear here numerous times. There are also times where the leveling standpoint could’ve been flipped. There are times where I hear a subtle drum break or synth sound that should be way louder and hear percussion and sub basses that should be way softer. “Body In Mind” despite being one of the better tracks here does have a basic chord progression, a terribly mixed mellotron in the back end and an old school drum pattern that sounds way too compressed to sound raw. Tracks like “Seratonin” and “Apartment 402” have loops that could be on some Internet Money sample pack. There is also the outro that is basic atmospheric piano and basic strings that wrap up the album in the most predictable way. With that being said, I think production is something she needs to focus on more on next album.
Favorite Tracks
To be honest here, I wasn’t really big on a singular track on this album. If I had to choose, it would be “Midnight Love”. I like the melody, I like the four on the floor and the hook is nice but even than, I think her delivery comes off a little forced and overdramatic at points on this song.
Verdict
Honestly, I didn’t really get anything away from this album. It wasn’t insanely terrible to the point of hatred but nothing stood out to me. Girl In Red Is basically the wallpaper in the room of Indie cliches
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