GIRL IN RED Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Marie Ulven finally unveils her debut album, five years after she first won us over with 'I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend', an introverted slice of indie pop that rode the wave of deeply personal and quirky coming-of-age artists at the time. Since then, asking 'do you like Girl In Red' became a kind of code for 'are you gay?', with subsequent songs tackling issues around sexuality, gender and identity head on.

So this long form outing comes with weighty expectations, and it doesn't disappoint. With lyrics that hold little back, from accusing a partner of cheating by asking if they, and their infidel mate, came, through to 'Serotonin''s focus on the numbness and emptiness that can swallow us whole, there is plenty that will resonate irrespective of your age. Set to an instrumental score that owes much to the damaged and dejected indie rock of the 1990s, it's a wonderfully damaged thing.