blue – girl in red

Release date: Oct 9, 2026

Genre: Indie Pop

Label: Columbia Records

October has practically become girl in red’s territory, and this year, she’s turning it blue. The Norwegian singer-songwriter, known for her sharp, personal songwriting and expressive production, returned this week with “blue,” a lively yet nostalgic autumn single. She had been teasing the release by changing the artwork of her signature song “we fell in love in october” from red to blue, even temporarily becoming @girlinblue on Instagram. Following last year’s deeply personal “Hemingway,” Marie Ulven sounds more energetic here, though the emotions are just as complicated.

The track opens straight into its chorus, introducing the image of blue denim that eventually fades, while the memory attached to it remains. It’s such an ordinary reference, and that’s what makes it interesting. The color blue carries both the physical image of an old pair of jeans and the sadness of remembering a relationship that has changed. Ulven captures the strange experience of watching time move forward while certain feelings remain exactly where they were.

Musically, it brings to mind some of Jack Antonoff’s production on Midnights, with its syncopated vocal fragments and layered harmonies. There’s also something almost Labrinth-like in the way those voices blend into the instrumental, creating a slightly psychedelic atmosphere. The rushing acoustic guitar gives this track its momentum, while soft, synth-like textures fill out the arrangement. Just before the bridge, the music briefly pulls back, leaving room for Ulven’s heavily processed vocals to twist and swirl into something more disorienting.

For an artist whose name has become so closely associated with one color, this little switch to blue turns out to be much more than a clever promotional idea.