12 INTERVIEWS OF XMAS: Girl In Red - "We really like leprechauns. We’re obsessed with Aer Lingus..."

Originally published in Hot Press in April 2024

Marie Ulven Ringheim is calling via Zoom from her family home in Horten, Norway, and she’s slightly vexed. While the artist was occupied with the small matter of supporting Taylor Swift on the Eras tour, her mother decided to transform her childhood bedroom into an office.

If anyone can get away with it though, Mrs. Ringheim can. As it turns out, she’s quite the songwriting partner.

“She’s the person I trust the most with sending my songs,” reveals Marie. “She’s not a professional, she doesn’t work as a lyricist, but she’s really talented. She gets it. We’ve got that perfect mother-daughter relationship.”

The maternal litmus test has worked out thus far. Since releasing recordings from her (former) bedroom, under the Girl In Red moniker, the Norwegian has been launched so high into the stratosphere, she can probably see Odin having his morning cup of tea in Valhalla.

She initially made waves in 2018 with the viral hits ‘I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend’ and ‘We Fell In Love In October’, the latter of which has been streamed over one billion times. She’s opened for the likes of Clairo and Billie Eilish (among others…) and her Finneas-produced debut LP, If I Could Make It Go Quiet, garnered widespread critical acclaim upon its 2021 release.

She’s also built a deep-dyed following, with fans falling in love with her woozy indie-pop, which details subjects like queerness and mental health struggles with refreshing acuity. Marie has a uniquely close relationship with her admirers, taking time to engage with them in chatrooms. There are times, however, when the constant feedback is a double-edged sword.

“I’ve been very nervous about the second album, I’ve been scared of what people are going to say. I need to let go and that’s what I’m doing with this record. I’m trying to stay chill and not let stuff get to me.”

Titled I’M DOING IT AGAIN, BABY!, the upcoming sophomore record seems a left-turn from its predecessor – not least for the blaring typography. The music follows suit. Loud and charmingly brash, it brims with kick-ass guitar riffs and lyrical attitude.

“It feels more crisp and mature, I feel like I’ve done everything I can to perfect every single song,” Marie says. “This whole album is about confidence. I thought there was something funny about having a gigantic painting reading ‘I’m doing it again, baby’,” she adds, referencing the statement piece on the LP cover.

While the album kicks off with a cocky strut, it also deals with more familiar GIR subject matter, including crippling self-doubt. On ‘Pick Me’, Marie’s relationship with her bisexual girlfriend is put under the microscope, as the singer ventilates her fear of being left for a man.

“Some songs give off rock star vibes, while others do the complete opposite,” she reflects. “That’s been one of the themes, having these moments of pure confidence and feeling on top of the world, but then feeling like the smallest, worst person, being jealous and insecure. Feeling like you’re not enough and that your partner is going to leave you. It’s quite an embarrassing thing to say – it took a lot even to say it to my girlfriend.”

ICONIC TIME

The title of the album is slightly misleading. Not only is Marie doing it again (baby!), she’s taking it further than before, creating an entire visual experience to accompany the project.

“We’ve photographed some sculptures I made for the album that play with self-esteem and confidence,” she notes. “It’s an exhibition we’re going to take across the world. We’re finishing them up so we can have pop-up galleries. There’s something special about meeting your fans and inviting them into your creativity in real life.”

It’s a brave idea, particularly in our financially volatile times, where margins are fine for artists – even those who have enough monthly Spotify listeners to populate New York City twice over.

“It’s getting harder to do these ‘real life’ things,” admits Marie. “Stuff is increasingly expensive and artists are becoming more digital. It’s hard to get people to buy tickets, even though they’re streaming your songs.”

If she does struggle to put bums on seats, she can at least call on her experiences shadowing the world’s greatest Ticketmaster crasher. How did it feel to be handpicked by Taylor Swift as an opener for the Eras tour?

“When I first found out that she knew about my existence, I immediately started crying,” says Marie. “It was such a physical reaction because I’ve been a big fan of her music my whole life, the feeling was beyond comprehension. I was like, ‘How does she know I exist? And how does she like my music?’

“I didn’t know how big it was,” Marie continues, describing her time in the eye of the storm. “I had never been to a stadium before, I didn’t know what a stadium tour was. Obviously I’ve heard about them, but I’ve never witnessed one.

“A part of me didn’t know what kind of opportunity it was, until I realised that it was the biggest thing in the world. It was so special, I felt very present. I was saying to myself, ‘Oh my god Marie, you’re in an iconic time of your life, you have to enjoy this’.”

OBSESSED WITH IRELAND

What did the young artist learn from her first-hand access to the world’s biggest pop star?

“What I took away from watching her shows is that she definitely works out a lot, she is so well-trained,” notes Marie. “She is an amazing singer and the creative aspect of the whole show is insane. The hours that have gone into it to make it so entertaining – you don’t lose attention. You don’t check your phone once, something is constantly happening and keeping you engaged. It’s a genius masterpiece.

“The main takeaway is that I have to step up and work harder, and if I can do a percentage of what Taylor has done, then that’s an accomplishment.”

Marie is known to have some quirky fixations of her own. She was, at one stage, ranked 32 in the world for competitive finger-boarding (remember Tech Decks?). While her extreme sports career might be over, she remains susceptible to the occasional rabbit hole.

“I’m in a period where I’m obsessing over a lot of different things,” she shares “I’m obsessed with Caran d’Ache pens right now, especially the 849 model. I’ve also had a champagne period. I’m obsessed with cars, Wes Anderson too. I’m all over the place, but I’m especially deep down in that pen world.”

Among her enthusiasms, funnily enough, is Ireland, where Girl In Red will be making a stop on her world tour this summer.

“We played our first ever show abroad in Dublin,” Marie reveals.”We really like leprechauns. We’re obsessed with Aer Lingus. We love going to bars and listening to Irish music – we love the lilting. We’re always looking for Irish-themed sweaters when we’re thrifting. It’s a country very heavily connected with the Girl In Red band experience.”

I’M DOING IT AGAIN, BABY! is out now.