girl in red, 'Did You Come?'

As we near the year's end, #NowPlaying recommends songs that slipped through the cracks, but remain in our headphones.

Whether it concerns her mental health, romantic woes or sexuality, Marie Ulven – the force behind girl in red – is not afraid of being candid. Her first full-length album, this year's if i could make it go quiet, deviates from previous bedroom pop material; a newfound sonic intensity pairs well with the album's vivid, often harsh, thematic content.

girl in red exhibits this pairing best in " Did You Come?," a tune about the jealousy of seeing a lover happy with someone else. It's sexual without being sexy, full of hurt yet upbeat enough that you can still thrash around a bit. To have a song and an entire album fill this strange niche of caustic but exuberant is almost an enigma of sorts, but girl in red executes it perfectly.

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