Unapologetic in her vulnerable navigations through love and relationships, Dublin-born, London-based artist and producer Orla Gartland is a modern-day indie-alt hero. Renowned for her raw musicality, brash charm and unique aesthetics in her work, Gartland has become one of the most prominent and successful names within the world of indie music.
Since releasing her debut album Woman of the Internet in 2021, Gartland has amassed a devoted fanbase and enjoyed raging success. Her debut earned massive praise, reaching number three on the Irish album chart, number one on the U.K. Indie chart and number 10 on the U.K. album chart.
Dedicated to her own independence, production and artistic freedom, Gartland has become a highly skilled producer while rising to fame. Forming her own record label, New Friends, in 2021 under which she released Woman of the Internet, Gartland has taken artistic control over her work, a notable feat in an industry largely composed of men.
Gartland recently released her much-anticipated sophomore LP Everybody Needs A Hero on Oct. 4 via New Friends. The record conveys her signature cheeky bite and playful vulnerability as she explores what it means to be a hero, how to remember yourself while committing to a long-term relationship and how she’s learned to exist and identify in a post-feminist world.
Gartland is also gearing up to embark on her first ever headline tour across North America, which has completely sold out. With such a profound artistry, one that balances a fiery spark with compassion and empathy, it’s no wonder Gartland has garnered such a devout following. When her tour nearly sold out shortly after tickets went on sale, Gartland says it finally gave her a clear idea of just how many people listen to her songs.
“I think so much of releasing music now is a very abstract thing,” she says. “So much of it’s online and it just all feels a bit intangible and sometimes a little bit hard to digest that people might actually be even listening to your songs at all. I think the most obvious way that you can show up for an artist that you like is to buy a ticket and be physically in the room singing their lyrics back at them. It’s such a direct exchange and I definitely just was so bowled over by the tickets [selling out] and feeling in that moment that it was really tangible.”
Speaking on her new album Everybody Needs A Hero, Gartland says that it is more straightforward both sonically and lyrically and strays away from her original singer-songwriter sound of writing moody, folky songs. After realizing she wasn’t writing songs that connect with her personally, she took it upon herself to put more of her personality and character into her work.
“When I realized that and allowed [it] to come into the music, something clicked a lot more.. I think maybe this time I felt confident enough to take a step further in that direction and be a little more on the nose lyrically, a little more committed in the production choices and allowing it to jump all over the place dynamically a little bit more.”
Her single “Late to the Party,” featuring indie superstar Declan McKenna, addresses the concept of dating somebody and understanding that you are not that person’s first partner, with a bratty and brash approach. While Gartland adopts a rebellious and defiant persona within the single, she says that accepting that everybody brings baggage to a relationship is a key part of life.
“I guess the whole song is pretty tongue in cheek,” she says. “It’s pretty playful because obviously none of us are a blank slate. Even if you are someone’s first partner there’s still so much in our lives that inform how we are. I like me in that song, being this brat and being like ‘God, you got all these issues — but me on the other hand am totally perfect,’ which is not true. I think it’s really sweet and quite beautiful that, as we present to a new friend or a new partner or someone new, we are just this tapestry of all the experiences that we’ve had.”
Everybody Needs A Hero finds Gartland exploring several complex themes, one of them being how the singer chooses to take up space within a post-feminist world. In the music industry specifically, it’s easy for a woman to feel hesitant when it comes to speaking out or making her presence known.
“I perceive that to be not exclusively a female experience, but often a female experience,” she says. “I struggle to take up space sometimes and that can be in a studio session writing a song and that can be in a relationship or a friendship. It’s a tendency I have that I’m always trying to fight.”
In a male-dominated society and a coinciding industry, Gartland admits that surrounding herself with powerful women such as her mother or her close friends has helped her both personally and artistically.
“I think surrounding myself with strong, independent women is quite important to me because — I mean, it’s to each their own — but I just don’t personally want to exist in relation to someone else in someone else’s orbit,” she says. “I do think it’s easier when you get into relationships sometimes to do that, to crouch behind someone, to take someone else’s lead. But the older I get the more I’m just always actively and manually trying to fight that urge and just make sure that I have my own life and have my own friends and have my own opinions and none of that should be very revolutionary. But it sometimes does feel that way for some reason.”
In almost every aspect of her career, Gartland chooses to surround herself with women. When it comes to songwriting or the creative process, Gartland says doing so allows her to speak her mind and take up space. That being said, Gartland says she produced Everybody Needs a Hero with two male producers who also allowed her to take creative control rather than forcing themselves to take over.
“They are very egoless men and I have worked with plenty of [egotistical] men in my life,” she admits. “Finding producers and studios and spaces where you can make your music involves kissing a lot of frogs. But with these two guys who I’ve worked with individually and then for this album, they’re both just the best at pushing me to the front.”
Gartland goes on to say that encouragement from her peers is crucial, especially for moments she might feel shy during a recording session and not want to take charge. “I think being surrounded by strong women and being surrounded by men who I perceive to be feminists and modern in their approach — not just ego, man-spreading men — definitely encourages me to stand on top of the pedestal or step up to the mic metaphorically and just take up that space.”
As an artist, when one takes a step back and leaves space for another producer or musician to take over, Gartland says a project can end up a little lost. “It’s important to me to have a real handle on what I do,” she says. “Caroline Polachek has just come to mind, but the kind of artists that I love are artists producing their own music. They’re sometimes creative directing their own visuals. They’re maybe even directing their own music videos. They’re just in all of it. I think especially as a female artist I just love to see that.”
Similar to how it’s easy to get lost by not taking charge in your own artistic vision, it’s just as easy when you don’t stay true to yourself in a romantic relationship. On Everybody Needs a Hero, Gartland delicately explores the idea of a person losing grasp of their identity when they choose to devote themselves to another person.
“I can go a little bit too far the other way; I can get obsessed with my own independence and sort of reject anything or anyone that threatens that,” she explains. “I think an amount of leaning on someone is good and it’s the beautiful part of a relationship. But I think how you retain that individuality is just keeping it in check and making sure that you have things that you like that are just for you and making sure that you have your own friends. I think some of the most devastating breakups that I have been in or witnessed around me are ones where someone has put their entire life into someone else.”
A healthy relationship is totally possible, but the most important thing to keep in mind is balance. “Monogamy is difficult,” Gartland says. “It’s a lot for us to expect one person to be our confidant, best friend, the practical “pay taxes do laundry” kind of partner, the one we sleep with– all of these things are so different. I have compassion for people who make their whole life about one person.”
On her latest album, Gartland ultimately explores identity in various niche ways. Whether it’s how we identify ourselves in society, how we identify ourselves as an individual or how we identify ourselves within a relationship with another person — romantic or otherwise — Gartland beautifully and poetically evokes deeper, inimitable feelings among listeners as she addresses the more gritty aspects of the human experience.
“I do really enjoy writing songs about feelings I feel are underrepresented in pop music — especially those slightly more niche, sticky, confusing feelings,” she says. “When I listen to other people’s music and I feel seen in it, it can be such a cathartic thing. Especially if you’re going through a bit of a harder time and you press play on a song and you feel like it perfectly sums up how you feel or your life. I think that’s when music is most spiritual and witchy and sick.”
In her own music, where she addresses the more rough and raw feelings of love, Gartland hopes to convey this exact feeling. As she has felt seen in the work of her own favorite artists, Gartland hopes to be the one that other listeners feel seen and heard by when life brings adversity.
“It’s not about just having the same life as someone, because people will always hear their own interpretation in a song and maybe relate to it differently,” Gartland says. “But just making people feel seen or heard. Especially because the intention throughout the record is it’s not as simple as ‘I love you.’ It’s like, ‘I love you, but I don’t want to lose myself,’ ‘I love you, but I get these compulsive thoughts where I want to just ruin your life.’ Just all these slightly uglier feelings. I want to hold space for those because that’s how I feel. Any slightly more nuanced feelings, I would love people to hear that in this album and feel like they get it.”
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