After several years away, Norwegian punk sensation Ida Maria returns with a new video for the single “Sick of You,” the perfect rock n roll kiss-off to her tumultuous past. A blistering anthem that encapsulates the chaotic energy of her recent history and the frustration of dealing with people and circumstances that vex you, “Sick of You” echoes how most people felt about 2020 and anchors her forthcoming EP release featuring five new songs.
“Ignite the sage effect. Let’s burn the bad, keep the good, hide your virgins, I’m back!” – Ida Maria
“Sick of You” struck such a nerve with fans, that it inspired one of them, Santiago D.A. to create a deepfake video for the single wherein the faces of iconic women including Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Lana Del Rey, plus Emilia Clarke as Daenerys in Game of Thrones, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, Angelina Jolie in Gia, are swapped out for Ida Maria’s face, creating a powerful message of feminine defiance and empowerment that radiates across time. It also raises the question of the male gaze and archaic beauty standards which Ida finds restricting.
Those familiar with Ida will recall the massive global critical acclaim she received starting with her debut album Fortress Round My Heart. While overseas she was coined as the “Indie Rocker It Girl,” stateside comparisons were flowing: Pitchfork pointed out her “commanding presence and sexual authority,” calling her debut “An awesome Joplin-meets-the-Hold-Steady LP,” NPR compared her “garage pop” to a “Spunkier Beth Orton fronting The Strokes,” while Rolling Stone claimed she’s akin to “Nico-meets-Chrissie Hynde,” and along with Elle they called her “Norway’s hottest Punk-Rock export.” Comparisons aside, one thing for sure is that her voice demands attention.
Regarding the timing of her comeback, Ida Maria says, “I am a whole person with integrity today and I can say and do whatever I like and I want to use that opportunity to express myself.” Life is on an upswing for Ida Maria in 2021. She has said farewell to her ex, reconnected with her muse, remodeled her home, is hosting the #1 music television show in Norway and is taking control of her life in general. The release of the video is cathartic, a way of shedding the past and moving into the future. It’s a new year, she’s working on new music, and embarking on a new beginning.
About Ida Maria:
Having established herself early in her life as a major label rock n roll artists with hits like 2007’s “Oh My God,” and 2008’s “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” from her debut album Fortress ‘Round My Heart, Ida Maria returned to Norway in 2013 after becoming disillusioned with the music industry and the major label system. An iconoclast by nature, Ida Maria struggled to fit the industry’s perception of her, at one point literally smashing an award she received. “A girl can’t put out music on a major platform without going through some twisted insane beauty ideal that doesn’t correspond with my own ideals of what a woman can be. A woman is a complex creature. There are not enough complex female role voices out there,” she states. Despite the struggle to work within the system, Maria managed to release her third album, Accidental Happiness. Her fourth album Scandalize My Name followed in 2016.
Since then, she has been devoting herself to farming, building a studio, making music on her own terms, and looking inward for self-growth.
