Girl In Red became a viral sensation through vulnerable, lo-fi songs about love and heartbreak, like with “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” and “We Fell In Love In October.” Her debut album If I Could Make It Go Quiet, though, watched her shift gears into a full-fledged, upbeat pop sound propped up by rich production with the help of Finneas. She also went from crooning to almost rapping, in a Billie Eilish, speak-singing kind of way. This can be heard on “Serotonin,” which she brought to Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night.
Her performance of “Serotonin” retains her simultaneous sass and stress; there’s no shortage of intensity, when she breaks into an anxiety-filled flow: “I get intrusive thoughts / like cutting my hands off / like jumping in front of a bus.” Despite the dark nature of the lyrics, she skips around the stage with charm in an oversized hoodie.
About this song, she told Uproxx: “For that song particularly, I wrote it and I was like, ‘Wow, I had a lot of stuff I had to get out…’ So many people have their own perception of what it’s like dealing with different things. I’ve definitely had the thought of people not validating my experiences, or people not seeing this experience as something that’s song-worthy or whatever.”
Watch her performance of “Serotonin” above.