Girl in red is growing up
As one of the breakout stars of the DIY indie movement that peaked between 2018 and 2020, many still associate girl in red with that lo-fi, stripped-back, grainy, airy production style that Marie Ulven and others of the era brought back into vogue. But when an artist becomes the poster child of such a distinct moment in musical time, it’s easy to get boxed in by fan expectations. “I think a lot of people really thought, ‘Oh, she’s making this kind of music [now], and she’s gonna make that kind of music forever,” Ulven muses. “But like I was just making that music because that was my ability. I was making music to my ability, and my abilities are maturing and changing and growing. So now, things are sounding a lot different. […] And, I’m older now…. I’m 25!”
As Ulven speaks about the creative crossfade between her first album and the second, it’s clear that she truly does think of her artistic output as an extension of herself. As she says, there’s no real difference between girl in red and Marie Ulven. At times, that ethos can be at odds with an industry that measures success in streaming metrics and units sold — a theme she explores through a clever reference to Andy Warhol’s studio collective, The Factory, on "Stars", the closing track of of I'm Doing It Again Baby! — but Ulven seems able to overcome those external pressures and focus instead on simply creating what makes her tick. “It’s like, I saw that James Blake thing, how he said the brainwashing worked and now people think music is free,” she says. “Music is now just being demanded as entertainment in a different way.”
Indeed, on this record, Ulven has once again proven that her strength as an artist lies not in pandering to trends but in staying true to herself and her experiences. The candid and empathetic voice that made girl in red one to watch remains on I'm Doing It Again Baby! High points of the album such as “Pick Me” and “Ugly Side” deal unflinchingly with anxiety and insecurity. But in addition to bringing a forthright approach to tackling sadness and anxiety, Ulven has also allowed joy to seep in on this record. “Something I’ve been thinking of a lot is the moments on the album that are very exciting and very happy and very, like, ‘I’m on top of the world!’” Ulven smiles, acknowledging that she feels excited to be in a place where she can make those kinds of records and have them come from a genuine well of contentment within her. During the years she took off after the release of her debut, she spent a lot of her time allowing her to just be. “I just started saying yes to someone asking if I wanted to go out and have a drink instead of being like, ‘No, I have to go back and I have to go home and work and I need to make music,” she explains. “I [was] just a normal twenty-something-year-old instead of, like, punishing myself for not being creative enough.
GRÓA are the sound of the underground
It's not just volcanic currents that flow beneath Reykjavik. The Iceland capital has its own underground scene – an organically sprouting rebellion – and three-piece GRÓA are budded from these verdant vines. Sisters, drummer Hrafnhildur 'Hrabba' and lead vocalist and guitarist Karólina 'Karó' Einars Maríudóttir, along with childhood friend bassist Fríða Björg Pétursdóttir have a natural unruly, unleashed fervour to them that rattles throughout their post-punk sensibilities. Becoming a band was, in fact, as much of an organic process for the three of them: "We had been best friends and had been doing everything together, and this just became one of the other things that we did together," says Fríða. "Then that started to evolve to us, like, what did to make songs and experiment and find our sound or what we wanted to do with this." "It just opened up so many doors to have such a good friendship and then combine it with the music world. It made a lot of things so exciting for us," adds Karó.
There's an inherent rebellion to everything GRÓA does. As a unit, they're willingly dismantling the usual tropes in favour of doing things their way. It turns out, that rebellious spirit is something they bring out in each other. "I think we've made a space together where we can explore our rebellion so at least it's really easy for us to get in the mood with that and be really supportive of each other," says Hrabba. Karó adds: "I think we all of us think of rebellion as a powerful tool in our personal life as well."
"It's a lot of purpose behind it. It's also a rebellion against the mainstream," explains Karó. "It's not the way we would want to go. And also, we were focusing a lot on playing free concerts, so it wouldn't be expensive to everybody could come and listen," she says of its inclusivity. "And also just creating also a nice space that is a safe space for everyone," adds Hrabba.
Remi Wolf on Mac DeMarco
I heard Mac DeMarco’s "Ode to Viceroy” for the first time when I was a senior in high school. It was when his album 2 came out which really broke him stratospherically across the world, or at least in the US or in my town. It was such a huge album and “Viceroy” was the first Mac DeMarco song I ever heard and it completely, and immediately, changed my perception of music and what I thought was possible. It had such a deep impact on me.
I was in the car with two of my friends, Parker and Eli, and we were smoking weed – it was such a typical teenage moment where you’re getting high, you’re just loving life and there’s not a care in the world. Then there’s this Mac DeMarco song about cigarettes that’s playing that’s so vibey and chill and DIY in a way.
He became the soundtrack to my life for a year and I still love every single thing he’s put out, I think he’s a genius, he’s so unique and completely fearless. He’s such a strong voice, he doesn’t let anybody tarnish that and I really, really respect him.
It sounds weird, but it feels like my teenage years started when I was 18 and I went to college, because that’s when I was finally able to be like ‘Wow! The youth! The culture!’ I’d been missing out on everything, and so when I turned 18 my world kind of exploded and I was like a sponge. Mac DeMarco was a part of that exploration of mine and this newfound lease on life.
As told to Matthew Kent
Three things to get excited about this week
The archive: What would you do if your spring cleaning revealed an old note from Elliott Smith? That’s what happened last week to Kevin Patey, the ex-husband of Mary Lou Lord, a devout member of the Boston music scene and friend / collaborator of Smith’s. As it turns out, he had sent her very early versions of many of his songs, but the two just uncovered were previously-unseen versions of “Miss Misery” and “All Cleaned Out.” Writer Luke O’Neil picked up the story, and the result is an astounding interview with Lord herself on her relationship with the late musician.
The EP: Last week, shoegaze sensation Wisp released her debut EP, Pandora. For a first project, it’s an impressively cohesive work of top-notch indie tracks reminiscent of the 90s grunge era. While breakout cut “Your face” has already made its rounds on the Internet, new editions “Pandora” and “Mimi” are particularly strong showings, bringing out even more of the wide open, guitar-heavy earworms that have put Wisp on the map.
The pocket synth: Suzuki has announced that it will bring back the Omnichord, the gear company’s signature machine pivotal to the sound of the 80s and popularized once again by Damon Albarn and Gorillaz. If you want to get your hands on the modern version of this classic pocket synth, now is your chance. It’s the first Omnichord model to be released in 26 years, and orders will ship starting in July.
Something Old, Something New
Every week, one of Best Fit's writers or editors share their recommendations of two records they love - one from the past, one from the present. This week, Substack editor Laura David on Eddy de Pretto’s Cure (2018) and Adam England on Mountainhead by Everything Everything (2024).
That Eddy de Pretto has not broken out farther beyond the French-speaking world in the fashion of fellow francophone artists Stromae, Christine and the Queens, or Angèle is, truly, puzzling. Born in the suburbs of Paris, de Pretto’s blend of lyrical prowess, intriguing vocal qualities, and particularly catchy production style all bear the markings of a transatlantic breakout star. No album is more quintessentially de Pretto than, naturally, his debut, Cure. Taking cues from the likes of Frank Ocean and Tyler the Creator, Cure blends hip-hop sensibilities on tracks like “Random” with French chanson traditions on others like “Normal.” Thematically, the record also covers a lot of ground. Described by de Pretto as autobiographical in nature, much time is spent unpacking de Pretto’s wrestling with his sexuality and coming to terms with the challenges of queer love and heartbreak. No two tracks deal with these themes better than “Jimmy,” a cut which captures that nervous exciting of wanting someone from afar, and “Honey,” which follows de Pretto as he achingly yearns for a lover who he knows is being unfaithful. Already a hit in his home country, it’s only a matter of time before de Pretto takes the world by storm.
Everything Everything have been one of Britain’s most intriguing, exciting bands since arriving on the scene with 2010’s Man Alive. Admittedly, Get To Heaven, released five years later, remains the four-piece’s magnum opus — a true masterpiece of an album. But 2024’s Mountainhead has become, arguably, a close second. It could possibly be the best album of the year so far. It’s a concept album of sorts, based on the idea that society is obsessed with building a giant mountain first has to dig a hole to live in. In the hole lives a giant snake. So, you know, just some light-hearted, casual stuff. “The End of the Contender” is such an earworm, while “Dagger’s Edge” helps make sure your attention doesn’t dip towards the end of the album. There aren’t many bands out there who still manage to sound so fresh seven albums in — especially without alienating half their fanbase à la Arctic Monkeys — but their creativity and ingenuity speak for themselves. They know what they’re doing, and they’re doing it well.
Listen to the week in new music by following our Discovery playlist
Dropping at midnight every Thursday, follow our 20-track playlist for a taste of the best new music from the most exciting breaking artists.
These are the songs our editors and writers have on repeat right now, taken from the hundreds of tracks released in the last seven days. Leading the selection this week are new tracks from Tertia, Mnelia, SOLIS4EVR, TRISTÁN! and cover star Imogen and the Knife.