The Gen Z indie-pop favorite explains the popular culture that was formative to her when she was growing up and coming out.
Among LGBTQ+ Gen omega indie - music fans , few phrases mean more than , " Do you listen togirl in red ? " For those unfamiliar or who have n’t made their path onto indie TikTok , it ’s basically a sales booth - in for " Are you jovial ? , " relate to the often lesbian medicine that Norse vocalist - ballad maker Marie Ulven makes under her lowercased stage moniker .
While anybody can enjoy girl in red ’s sum - on - your - sleeve earworms , Gen Z has anointed her a sapphic icon ever since she debut in 2018 . It was basically inevitable . She went viral with the release of her first single , " i wanna be your girl , " which was both beautiful and unabashedly queer . Since then , with records like 2021 ’s excellentif i could make it go quiet , her devout pop music about mental illness , pining , queer love , and heartbreak has further solidify her as an essential listen among lover , who now feel an even deeper connection to her work .
Although Ulven farm up in the free European haven of Norway , she did n’t of necessity have a lot of queer medicine icons to look up to and therefore feels a act of a responsibleness being that for so many . " I have to think about [ how much fans link up with my euphony ] so I do n’t forget , just because I can be in my bubble too much sometimes , " she enunciate . " I test to take myself out of that and recollect that something really cool has bump , citizenry are take heed , and how much I really appreciate that . " Nevertheless , she ’s excited about the rise of LGBTQ+ artists in indie and mainstream pop and feels proud of how much her music has resonated in such a short period of time . " It ’s just the beginning , " she says .
Design by Mallory Rosten for Thrillist / Photo by Jonathan Kise
The 23 - year - honest-to-god ’s come - out story go a moment like the wild-eyed sexual climax of a teen movie . She was 16 and arrive home late , telling her mommy she simplyhadto break curfew to go see the daughter she knew she was in beloved with . While it was , in fact , an finally chance experience , it make sensation how much adolescent daddy acculturation was formative to her as she was growing up and discovering her quirk . Thrillist talk to the transcription artist about what moving picture , display , and music dissemble her at that metre , from iconic coming - of - age stories to her cherish queer human relationship on - screen .
Palace and early playlists
I was in spades connect with a bunch of music as I was grow up , but none of it was from curious artist in particular at the time . I was just like any other passionate teenager listening to music . I do still have a play list from my first - ever relationship with a miss . That was n’t the intent — it was just the music I was listening to at that time — but all of that music is very much connected to that fourth dimension of my life , which was seven years ago or so . There ’s this one band that comes to mind , Palace — they’re a British lot . They had an EP , mislay in the Night , and some songs from their EP reminds me of that time .
I was a very passionate listener back then . I did n’t really think too much about if this artist is queer or not really , but [ I ’ve maintain all of my playlists from when I was growing up ] . I still have my first one from 2010 .
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
[ The Perks of Being a Cheiranthus cheiri ] does refer on a little bit of queerness . It ’s still definitely the most plastic pic I ’ve ever seen because after watching it , I was so emotionally move and it showed me a different way of being with friends and live sprightliness . It just did something for me . After meet it , I started listening to a bunch of unexampled music and it completely changed me .
[ It ’s also ] the book that did the most for me grow up . I was very focussed on that write up . It ’s so pitiful because [ the main reference ] Charlie is go through a wad , but I really gravitate towards how he ’s such an foreigner and figuring out his identity . Although , now I ’m embark fresh eras , luckily , I ’m happy to be 23 and not 16 anymore .
Iconic teen movies
My mammy used to show me and my sisters movies that she discover when she produce up in the ' 80s — The Breakfast Club , SixteenCandles , St. Elmo ’s Fire , all those picture from that earned run average . I was obsessed with those and building my identity quite heavily around those moving picture . The Breakfast Clubwas in all likelihood my deary , because that was my mom ’s favourite movie . I watched it and I did n’t really understand it that much at first , but when I ascertain it again now , it ’s like , wow , this is so dainty . It has really stuck with me .
I also think of watchingGreasein third grade , and that also did something for me . I think it was really cool seeing teenagers kiss , smoke , and stuff . I just call back it was allreally cool .
Blue Is the Warmest Color
I really sleep with this moving picture calledBlue Is the Warmest Color . I first saw it in 2013 [ which is when it came out ] . If I go on my television camera pealing on my phone , one of the first photograph I have is a screenshot of the two actors [ Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux ] in that picture . It ’s funny , because I then had a swain for another two years , but I really love seeing this girl who really did n’t bonk what her sex was meet someone that really sparked something in her . I fuck it . Now , patently later , I ’ve realize there ’s in spades a male regard in the film and it ’s been sexualized by a valet de chambre , but at the time , it mean a muckle to me .
Skam
Growing up , I was a very expectant fan of American pop civilization , which I think a band of Europeans glamorize up until a sealed age when they realize , holy fuck , the United States is kind of a crazy res publica . But at the time , I was very much concentrate on what was n’t here [ in my home land of Norway ] because I was n’t really concerned in Norway .
It was n’t that important to me , butSkamwas a Norwegian television set show that went global and sell all the right to different countries , so now there are spinoffs of the main show . But I opine in Season 3 , there was this guy figuring out his sexuality . I think back I really loved consider that on - screen , peculiarly in Norwegian television .
Glee
Gleewas really giving for me . I retrieve I was hanging at my boyfriend ’s parent ' station and I really wanted to go home so that I could watchGleebecause I really need to know what was happening with Santana and Brittany . That show was really authoritative to me back then .
Fans connecting with her music
I ’ve had a pile of different encounters with fan , some really overconfident single , some sad ones . One affair I lately saw [ that really resonated was ] someone DM - ed me — I have several Instagrams , and someone happen one of them — and they fundamentally came to me to like , " I experience you ’re not going to see this and that ’s fine . You do n’t need to reply . You do n’t need to reply , " and went on about their homophobic parents and that she was in love with her friend and their parents feel out that they were romantically involve , so she could n’t be with her friend anymore , who , obviously , she probably did n’t need to be a Quaker . It was a abominable story .
So I think what I ’ve been thinking about recently is that there are mass who are suffering a lot in their sexuality . There are a lot of happy report , too , but also a great deal of sad one . Since I live in Norway , which is one of the best queer countries to live in , I think I can have a tendency to forget about all the stories that are n’t just with happy conclusion . That ’s something I ’ve been thinking about .
[ So many fans arrive to me and think of my music as a safe space ] and it ’s not that I would n’t consider myself a dependable mortal to occur to with anything , because I do think I am a safe person , but I ’m live my life in my house of cards here in Norway , walking my click , doing all of my daily stuff , and I have to remember that there are people out there who are feel such a potent association to my music . It ’s really peculiar and foreign because it ’s pass without me even knowing , but I really appreciate it .
Summit Entertainment
Universal Pictures
Wild Bunch
NRK
20th Television
