Ausverkauft: Orla Gartland

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In a world where we’re taught to aspire to unattainable levels of perfection, Orla Gartland’sunfiltered honesty is a breath of fresh air. Balancing normal insecurities and aself-deprecating wit with impressive levels of self-reliance and steely determination, theDublin-born, London-based singer-songwriter/producer has never pretended to be anythingother than a work in progress, and - from 2015 EP ​Lonely People ​to forthcoming debutalbum ​Woman On The Internet ​- has always used her music as a vehicle for self-discovery.As that understanding deepens so too does the connection she continues to forge with fans,resulting in over 55 million streams and more than 750,000 monthly Spotify listeners to date.Though raised by music lovers, Gartland was the first in her family to play an instrument,taking up the violin aged 4 and learning traditional Irish folk music by ear. Obsessed withpunk-inspired pop acts like Avril Lavigne, she taught herself guitar from the age of 11, andby 14 she was uploading original material to YouTube, her folky-sound influenced bysinger-songwriters like Laura Marling, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Fiona Apple and ReginaSpektor. “Because I was way too young to play open mic shows, [sharing videos] became avaluable way to get feedback on my songwriting,” she explains, speaking from her homestudio in West London.At the age 17, Gartland self-released her debut single, ‘Devil On My Shoulders’, which wenton to chart on iTunes. But it was her decision to leave Ireland two years later that was toprove pivotal in furthering her musical career. Deferring a place to study songwriting atDublin’s BIMM Institute, she relocated to London to immerse herself in the industry, a moveshe describes as being inspired equal parts by “blind confidence, faith in the universe, andencouragement from the small audience I did have online.”In London, Gartland quickly found herself part of a tight-knit community of like-mindedmusicians including Dodie, for whom she plays guitar as part of her touring band. Havinginitially adopted a DIY approach out of necessity, Gartland has maintained that creativeindependence through choice, with subsequent EPs ​Why Am I Like This ​(2019) and 2020’sacclaimed ​Freckle Season ​both self-released, and the latter finding her fine tuning herproduction skills.“I realised one day that all my favourite artists have had a heavy hand in the production oftheir songs. So for ​Freckle Season ​I​​thought, ‘How can I make this the most jam-packed,concentrated version of me?’ And the answer was simple - I needed to be involved in everypart of the process. It was like the more of a control freak I became, the more rewarding itwas and the more proud I was of the music. I became obsessed with every guitar tone,every drum sample, every effect on my vocal - I dialled in every detail of the songs and it feltamazing not to have to rely on anyone else to record them. I had spent years searching formy dream producer only to realise I could grow into that role myself. Making ​Freckle Seasonreally informed how I wanted to make the album."Written during the first lockdown of 2020 at her studio in Acton, and recorded in October atDevon’s Middle Farm Studios with assistance from co-producer Tom Stafford and Gartland’sown two-piece touring band, ​Woman On The Internet ​represents a huge step forward for the25-year-old. Today she cites Haim, Phoebe Bridgers and ​Strange Mercy​-era St. Vincent as
being particularly influential reference points, but the results are utterly unique, findingGartland moving between alt-rock, punk, folk and synth-flecked pop, with a successionof​​inventive arrangements and insightful observations.Where ​Freckle Season ​charted the collapse of a long-term relationship, ​Woman On TheInternet ​finds Gartland deliberately putting herself front and centre in all lyrical content. “Itwas good to get that out of my system,” she laughs of ​Freckle Season ​today, “Because Idon't owe that boy a whole album.”“When I was a few songs into writing the album it became clear that ​Woman On The Internetis about the chaos of my 20s,” she expands. “It's a different chaos to your late teens, such adifferent brand of angst. I feel so much more settled and sure of myself now than I was whenI was 18 or 19 but I'm still just half the person I'm going to be and to capture that becamereally important."As Gartland explains, the album title references a nebulous, self-help-type figure. “She’s acaricature; a nameless, faceless figure telling me to eat better or buy some specific hairproduct; when I feel low I'm so vulnerable to questionable advice. The woman appears inthese songs as someone I look to for guidance when it feels like no one in my real life canhelp, when I'm truly lost. A lot of this album is about learning to really own that lostness."The tone is set on album opener ‘Things That I’ve Learned’, which sees Gartland impartinghard-won wisdom over complex, clipped percussion, staccato guitars and close vocalharmonies including, “Take up all the space even the when you think you don’t deserve it,”and “Say what’s on your mind, every single time, don’t regret it.” Despite its seeminglydamning title, ‘You’re Not Special, Babe’ is about taking comfort in the universality ofself-doubt, and sets its self-deprecating musings to euphoric, synth-flecked indie-pop.WIth its dramatic dynamics and reverb-drenched guitars, ‘Pretending’ uses the setting of aparty as an arena for exploring identity and feelings of isolation, laying bare Gartland’s owntendency to become a “shapeshifting, people-pleaser”. A friend’s rage threatens to bubbleover during the breakneck punk of ‘Zombie’, and ‘More Like You’ frankly discussesGartland’s own struggles with feelings of inferiority. Throughout, Gartland reinforces theimportance of acknowledging these emotions, rather than repressing them and subsequentlyregressing into an even darker place.As she explains, this commitment to honesty stems not just from self-discovery but from adesire 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 itif people felt more understood just by listening to the album.” And, ironically, it’s precisely byembracing and laying bare these imperfections that Gartland has created her mostcompelling work to date.

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