Born and raised in Dublin, Orla Gartland started writing songs when she was 14 years old. Unable to convince any of the 18+ local pubs and venues to let her perform, Orla honed her craft online before heading out on tour the day she finished school. She then packed her bags and moved to London, spending the next few years writing, recording, touring, and gathering fans apace.
The fast-rising singer-songwriter-producer recently announced details of her long-awaited debut album Woman On The Internet, to be released on August 20, 2021, via her own label New Friends, distributed via The Orchard. Woman On The Internet, a culmination of years of music-making, live shows and Gartland honing her production skills, follows Gartland’s acclaimed Eps- Why Am I Like This? (2019) and Freckle Season, released in February last year. Between them, Gartland’s songs have amassed over 70 million streams and more than 750,000 monthly Spotify listeners.
The album features previously released singles “More Like You,” “Pretending” “Zombie!” and the tender heartfelt piano-led ballad “Do You Mind?”
On announcing her debut album, Gartland shares, “Announcing my debut album feels like a moment I’ve been waiting for for years. Something clicked into place last year – I grew into my role as a producer and lyrically I knew what I wanted to say. Although this album was made in 2020 it isn’t laced with lockdown blues – it feels more like the soundtrack of new time to me; a sunnier time, a more hopeful time. I’m so proud of this record and beyond excited for everyone to hear it!”
In a world where we’re taught to aspire to unattainable levels of perfection, Orla Gartland’s unfiltered honesty is a breath of fresh air. Balancing normal insecurities and a self-deprecating wit with impressive levels of self-reliance and steely determination, the Dublin-born, London-based singer-songwriter/producer has never pretended to be anything other than a work in progress and has always used her music as a vehicle for self-discovery.
“When I was a few songs into writing the album it became clear that Woman On The Internet is about the chaos of my 20s,” she expands. “It’s a different chaos to your late teens, such a different brand of angst. I feel so much more settled and sure of myself now than I was when I was 18 or 19 but I’m still just half the person I’m going to be and to capture that became really important.”
Gartland explains that the album title references a nebulous, self-help-type figure. “She’s a caricature; a nameless, faceless figure telling me to eat better or buy some specific hair product; when I feel low I’m so vulnerable to questionable advice. The woman appears in these songs as someone I look to for guidance when it feels like no one in my real life can help when I’m truly lost. A lot of this album is about learning to really own that lostness.”
This commitment to honesty stems not just from self-discovery but a desire for genuine connection. “I’d love for people to come away understanding me more, but also it doesn’t have to be all about me. Even if it’s the odd lyric here and there, I’d love it if people felt more understood just by listening to the album.” And, ironically, it’s precisely by embracing and laying bare these imperfections that Gartland has created her most compelling work to date, moving between alt-rock, punk, folk, and synth-flecked pop, with a succession of inventive arrangements and insightful observations.
“Do You Mind?” is available on all digital streaming platforms and
to pre-save Woman On The Internet out August 20th click here
You can follow Orla Gartland on her social media links
Images provided by The Orchard
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