She had her Norwegian debut in 1998 with the single "Unforgivable Sinner" (released October 12, 1998) (it proved to be a huge hit as it reached number one and kept that position for 8 weeks. It was also the fastest selling single in Norwegian music history, and appeared in the Norwegian movie Schpaaa. The song was also included on the soundtrack), followed by her first album Playing My Game. She won an MTV-Europe award in 1999. Her single "Where I'm Headed", from the French film Mauvaises Fréquentations topped the charts in France and Italy.

Her second album, Another Day, was released on September 22, 2003. Her third album, Lost in a moment, was released on June 13, 2005. The first single from that album, "How Would It Be," was released in stores in Europe on May 10, 2005.

Despite her lesser known success in other parts of the world, for her third album, Lost in a Moment, Marlin made a visit to Taiwan to promote her album. The main reason she visited Taiwan was because in the Taiwanese version of the album, a bonus track was included. the bonus track was a cover of a song by a famous Chinese singer, Faye Wong. Her visit proved very successful, events held included a concert appearance held by MTV of Taiwan, various TV appearances, and also a street live gig that included an autograph session. Many of her fans appeared in these events, her record company even claims that it was the best-selling western record of the year for them.

Lene won four awards (Best Pop Solo Artist, Best Single ("Sitting Down Here"), Best Newcomer and the Artist Of The Year) at the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammy awards 1999 (Spelleman), as well as the MTV-Europe award for Best Nordic Act in Dublin, Ireland on November 11, 1999.