Girl In Red - I'm Doing It Again Baby! (Album Review)
Thursday, 18 April 2024
Written by Matthew McLister
It has been a whirlwind time in the life of Norwegian bedroom pop artist Marie Ulven Ringheim, who went from internet sensation to superstardom after the release of Girl in Red’s 2021 debut album ‘If I Could Make It Go Quiet’.
She’s become both a queer icon and a relatable voice on mental health struggles since the self-destructive anthem Serotonin went stratospheric, being performed at the 2021 MTV Europe Music Awards, and she’d later open Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
Perhaps as a result of this headrush, ‘I’m Doing It Again Baby!’ is more outward-looking and less introspective. Its melodies are brighter and poppier than before, albeit with a more tempered second half.
“I'm back, I feel like myself / I was gone for a minute 'cause I went to get help,” she opens on I’m Back, offering a reflective start that spells out fresh optimism to wash away what she has described as a “tendency (for) melancholic tragedy”.
The energetic Doing It Again Baby has the singer feeling indestructible and it’s a chaotic highlight that departs on the back of a frenetic banjo solo. Its catchiness is carried over into Too Much as she directs her ire at those killing her happy vibe.
As the record progresses towards its midsection, Girl in Red turns her attention towards a relationship gone sour with mixed results. There’s a pulsating charm to Phantom Pain and A Night To Remember, while Pick Me is a vulnerable, lighters in the air ballad. However, she does labour the theme to strip away some of the earlier charm.
Ugly Side picks things up again with a deliciously funky bassline and familiar introspective lyrics (“I need to know why I'm Jekyll and Hyde,” she sings), before she declares “Five-star rating and I'm writing a hit,” on sugary closer ★★★★★. It’s all a bit of fun but ‘I’m Doing It Again Baby!’ certainly isn’t worthy of that sort of praise. Perhaps if she’d committed further to the energetic promise heard in the first half of the LP it could’ve been a different story.
Girl In Red Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue August 27 2024 - DUBLIN 3Arena
Thu August 29 2024 - GLASGOW Barrowland
Fri August 30 2024 - GLASGOW Barrowland
Sun September 01 2024 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Tue September 03 2024 - LONDON OVO Arena Wembley
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