girl in red, “if i could make it go quiet.”

The chaos of the world is getting too much for girl in red to take. On her debut album, if i could make it go quiet, she’s not afraid to tell you just this as she begs for the world to slow down. Singer-songwriter Marie Ulven needs just enough time to deal with everything she’s going through and pick up pieces of relationships she’s left scattered.

The debut album from the 22-year-old Norwegian artist is filled with revealing, scathing lyrics of regret and memories of the girls she’s been with. Coming nearly three years after she gained international attention with her debut single “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend,” the new material doesn’t stray too far thematically. With a brisk runtime of only 33 minutes, the album’s passionate songs follow threads of letting oneself down, admitting mistakes and dealing with inner demons. They’re both headbangers and therapy sessions for girl in red. Together, these moods create a succinct and refined debut effort.

Her style is angsty pop, sprinkled with elements of Avril Lavigne but undeniably queer. There are synthesizers, guitars and drums all working together to make mid-tempo verses and hard choruses. The album centers on broad themes of depression, anxiety and sexuality, like conversations a wide swath of Gen Z have likely had with themselves or their friends.

She opens with “Serotonin,” a graphic narrative of the self-destructive thoughts running through her head. “I’m running low on serotonin/ Chemical imbalance got me twisting things/ Stabilize with medicine/ But there’s no depth to these feelings,” she sings on the hook. The chorus beat swells and falls into a fuzzy whomp that reverberates through the verses. Girl in red talks of losing control, contemplating jumping in front of a bus, or burning her hair off. It’s graphic and revealing, but authentic and a stroke of passion. The a capella version gives a more intimate spin to the lyrics as well.

If i could make it go quiet continues with several other songs featuring explicit but wonderfully memorable lyrics. There’s “Did You Come?” where she asks for a graphic, quantitative reason for how she was replaced in bed. On “You Stupid Bitch,” she once again vents her anger, this time over a grinding, guitar-heavy track that picks up as she repeatedly asks, “You stupid bitch, can’t you see/ The perfect one for you is me?” On “hornylovesickmess,” through just two verses, girl in red describes how sexually frustrating touring can be and how’s she’s not worth giving attention to since she always off to the next city.

Despite the louder, more aggressive material, the album is balanced with tracks like “I’ll Call You Mine,” a more mainstream pop track, depicting the feeling of sitting with someone in the backseat and knowing you’re really in love. Then there’s “midnight love,” where she begins in a whisper and effectively paints images of a lonely night and running off in the dark to a last-minute hookup. “In this light, I swear you’re mine,” she moans.

The album concludes with “it would feel like this,” an 80-second instrumental outro. Strings and a light piano fill out the music, a necessary change of pace from the preceding heavier songs. Like a hint at the potential styles girl in red may integrate into her music, the wordless song finally lets her have her peace and quiet.

Follow Domenic Strazzabosco at Twitter.com/domenicstrazz and Instagram.com/domenicstrazz.