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Orla Gartland Debuts Vibrant New Single in Live Performance

Jo Farrant — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 12:19:41 +0000

Indie singer-songwriter Orla Gartland recently shared a lively new unreleased single titled ‘NOW WHAT?’.

The song is a heartbreaking and emotive alt-pop single, which has quickly become a fan favourite with the Instagram video shared as a response to a comment where a fan said ‘orla i’m begging on my knees please release iiiittttt’. The snippet was shared by the artist in a recording of its live debut in Paris on the ‘EVERYBODY NEEDS A HERO’ with several openers including Emma Harner and Hohen Ford. The tour comes after the release of her latest album ‘Everybody needs a hero’ .

In classic Gartland style, she performed the track first for fans on social media singing emotively alongside the acoustic guitar playing that brought the singer to fame.

Gartland explains the creative process and concept behind her latest album in an interview with Billboard. The artist shares her musical desires, stating “I wanted the good, the bad and the very ugly.” in terms of writing songs surrounding love and relationships. The style is reminiscent of her self-made creative independence, but pushes past homemade ambitions and instead revels in a heavier alt-pop sound.

The artist has revealed the monetary difficulties touring the US as a small independent artist, especially post-pandemic, after the tour commenced in November 2024. However, this has not discouraged Gartland from live performance announcing several upcoming opportunities to catch her live. The artist announced her involvement in this year’s Glastonbury Festival last month, promising to give ‘everything we’ve got’.

Only the week before, she also announced that she would be performing in the Lollapalooza festival as well as her role supporting Glass Animals for their ‘TOUR OF EARTH’ this August.

The band have also spoken about their thoughts of touring after the pandemic in an interview with The Independent. Their album ‘Dreamland’ was released in 2020 during the lockdown, and tours for the release were postponed until 2021. They discuss the fear of ‘petrifying financial shortfalls’ if they were to need to end the tour abruptly.

With Gartland’s YouTube beginnings, live performance is understandably important to the artist. She has shared these performances on her YouTube channel in her series ‘tour diaries’.

With the latest album still recent in its release, it will be exciting to see fresh music from the artist.

Orla Gartland reveals the ‘eye-watering’ reality of a US Tour

Amy Maloney — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 19:07:34 +0000

Orla Gartland, whose upcoming US tour which commences in November of this year, has opened up about the trouble of touring the US as an Indie artist from Ireland. The Irish singer-songwriter and musician has honestly revealed to the BBC the difficulty many smaller artists encounter within the changing touring industry, as they attempt to break into US mainstream.

As Harry Styles can sell out 6 nights at Wembley Stadium whilst Taylor Swift can earn a whopping $2 billion in ticket sales, it is easy for music fans to believe that an artist’s touring money pot is endless. However, with increasing demands on smaller British artists to tour and break into America, the practicality of artists hosting a tour across the pond has become less and less viable.

In the post-Pandemic touring scene, monetary problems have not only been apparent for fans who have experienced an immense increase in ticket prices, but for the artists who are touring and have to encounter the increased costs of putting their show on the road, crew fees and accommodation, van hire and petrol.

As Orla Gartland spoke to the BBC about her newly released album, Everybody Needs A Hero, which released October 4, Gartland shared an unspoken reality for many artists like herself who are touring the States for the first time.

Gartland expressed: “the amount of money I’m going to lose on that tour is eye-watering”. She revealed exactly how much: “about 40 grand”. This extraordinary amount of money will see Gartland tick off a quest on her bucket-list, her desire to complete a US tour since she was 13 posting on YouTube under ‘MusicMaaad’. Her determination to see this tour through, emerged through her growing excitement following the tour selling out. She continued: “I’ve never gigged there properly, so putting this tour on sale was a real fingers-crossed-behind-the-back moment… it was so cool when it sold out”.

Gartland will be heading to the US in early November for 13 shows, performing to thousands of fans in various cities, including: Boston, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The ‘Why Am I Like This’ singer, experienced increased popularity after Netflix used the track in their teen drama Heartstopper. This track was streamed more than 1.4 million times America.

Despite confronting the reality of losing money during her US tour, Gartland expects the tour to be a “fun” and “gnarly” couple of weeks.

Gartland is not the only artist to acknowledge the challenges of touring the US in recent years. English electronic band, Metronomy cancelled their US tour in 2022 due to its impending costs. Popular British rapper, Little Simz also cancelled her US tour in 2022 revealing the cost of funding the tour would leave her in financial deficit. However, more recently, indie singer-songwriter Rachel Chinouriri who released her debut What A Devastating Turn of Events this year, cancelled her appearance as a support act on Remi Wolf’s upcoming US Tour in August, stating on X: the “financial strain of touring has become too much”.

The likelihood of independent artists touring the US with the increased boundaries of cost has evidently become a defining risk in their careers. Unless costing becomes more viable, fans can expect to see less independent artists making the decision to tour the US.

Orla Gartland Launches Appeal For Return Of Stolen Equipment

Sophia Elizabeth Tuck — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 15:14:51 +0000

Orla Gartland has launched an appeal for her stolen stage gear to be returned.

The 26-year-old singer took to Instagram to announce the theft. The post gives contact information as well as a list of the stolen equipment.

The theft occurred on 16th October 2021 whilst the singer’s tour van was parked at Wembley Travelodge car park over the weekend. The singer was in London for a gig at Electric Ballroom in Camden on Friday 15th October 2021. The perpetrators have stolen 13 items of equipment from the van including two Fender guitars and a custom-made kick drum that bears the singer-songwriter’s name.

The Dublin born singer-songwriter first gained popularity from her YouTube channel where she posted performances of cover songs. Gartland’s music has been identified within the genre of folk music, the singer has cited Joni Mitchell as her influence. Her first EP entitled Laughing at My Own Jokes was released in August 2011. However, Gartland’s first official EP is often regarded as Roots.

The artist’s EP, Roots, was released on 11th November 2013 to great critical acclaim. The release reached the top of the Irish album charts and reached number fifteen within the UK album charts. The four-track EP’s title track “Roots” became Apple iTunes Single of The Week within the UK and Ireland. The singer’s next EP, Lonely People, was released on 18th January 2015, the release incorporated funk styles into Gartland’s trademark folk-pop sound. The singer has released two more Eps, Why Am I like This? and Freckle Season before her debut album.

Gartland’s first studio album, Woman on the Internet, was released on 20th August 2021 and has sired three singles. The first single, “Pretending” was released on 16th October 2020. The album’s second single entitled “More Like You” was released on 13th January 2021, the track explores themes of jealously and identity. The third single taken from the debut album, “Zombie!” was released on 13th April 2021 and discussed toxic masculinity within society. Within the latest single, Gartland worked with producer Pete Robertson. Robertson is known for his work with singer-songwriter beabadoobee and indie rockers The Vaccines.

The artist has just finished eight UK performances, the singer embarked on tour earlier this month in support of her debut album. The singer-songwriter began the UK leg of her tour on 6th October in Bristol and finished with a performance in Brighton on 17th October. Gartland will be hitting the road again on 16th December with three performances in Ireland. In Spring next year Gartland will begin the European leg of her tour. Starting on 6th April, the singer will perform in twelve European cities.

Orla Gartland Releases Alternative Music Video To ‘More Like You’

Susan Owens — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 17:23:01 +0000

Orla Gartland has just released an alternative music video for her recent single More Like You. Orla explained in an Instagram post that there were two videos filmed for the single. The original idea Orla and director, Greta Isaac had for the video was actually set outdoors but because of poor weather, they filmed the indoor version first and then filmed it outside the next day. From there, they decided to go with the indoor version.

Explaining the decision, Orla said; “this was how @gretaisaac & I first imagined it, shot outside at golden hour. the forecast was grim for our first shoot day so we shot a plan B indoor version in a village hall – in the end we preferred that version.. idk, something about shooting the movement in a circle just felt right. the next day we shot this outdoor version in the field beside Gret’s family home & caught a rare moment of perfect sunlight on a freeezing december day.”

This new version still includes the wonderful choreography from Elan Isaac and dancer Hannah Hornsby. The outdoor element adds a completely new vibe to the whole video, the natural light, nature and middle of nowhere feeling you get create an almost cosmic experience as the two character’s mannerisms begin to match.

The upbeat folk-pop track, which came out on the 13th of January, tells the story of Orla’s insecurities and feelings of inferiority. It is about constantly comparing yourself to other people and not seeing that they also have their own set of flaws and insecurities.

Speaking about the meaning of the song with Golden Plec, Orla said; “More Like You’ was born from a petty friend jealousy I have for my best friend’s other best friend. She’s someone who I only ever heard good things about, someone I wanted to hate until I met her and – of course – I didn’t. I loved her,”

“When you don’t have much access to someone it’s easy to put them on a pedestal and forget that they have their own layered & complex life, you only see perfection. I became obsessed. I wanted to sing like her, I wanted to dress like her, I wanted to swap bodies with her Freaky-Friday style. So ‘More Like You’ is another song about identity, about yearning to switch lives with someone who makes it all look easy.”

More Like You is the second release of Orla’s yet to be named, upcoming debut album. Pretending is the first single that came out in October. The song is about the act people put up to impress strangers and how exhausting it is to be talking to people and have none of it is real. Talking about the song Orla said; “I wanted the heart of the song to feel like you’ve separated yourself from the group and cut away all the chaos around you, only to be left with your own voice.”

More Like You is available on all platforms, you can check out the alternative music video below.

Orla Gartland Has Dropped Music Video For ‘More Like You’

Susan Owens — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:00:55 +0000

Orla Gartland has dropped the music video for her latest single, More Like You. The video, which was directed by Orla and Greta Isaac, has a fabulously choreographed dance by Elan Isaac that shows Orla and dancer, Hannah Hornsby slowly falling into sync in their movements and mannerisms. Orla took to her social media to announce the video, thanking the team who worked on the video and encouraging her fans to “go watch your girl dancing.”

More Like You is available on all platforms, you can check out the video below.

Orla Gartland Has Released New Single ‘More Like You’

Susan Owens — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 14:57:39 +0000

Orla Gartland has released her newest single More Like You today, the 13th of January. The upbeat folk-pop track tells the story of Orla’s insecurities and feelings of inferiority. It is about constantly comparing yourself to other people and not seeing that they also have their own set of flaws and insecurity.

More Like You is the second release of Orla’s yet to be named, upcoming debut album. Pretending is the first single that came out in October. The song is about the act people put up to impress strangers and how exhausting it is to be talking to people and have none of it is real. Talking about the song Orla said; “I wanted the heart of the song to feel like you’ve separated yourself from the group and cut away all the chaos around you, only to be left with your own voice.”

More Like You is out now on all platforms.

Orla Gartland Announces New Single and Virtual Listening Party

Susan Owens — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 15:51:20 +0000

Orla Gartland has announced she will be releasing her newest single Pretending this Friday, the 16th of October. She teased the announcement throughout the week on her social media accounts, including videos of her at a residential studio and also hopping on a social media trend to hint that her debut album is also on the way.

Orla will also be hosting a virtual Zoom listening party for some lucky fans this Wednesday. She announced it on her Instagram saying; “so it begins: my new single ‘pretending’ comes out next friday, october 16th. pre-save it now at the link in my bio. then click the 2nd link down – if you pre-save + follow me on spotify/enter your email address there you’ll be entered into a comp to join a zoom meet i’m doing next wednesday where we can freak the hell out together & you’ll hear the song before anyone else. beyond excited to welcome you into this new era.”

This will be Orla’s first single since the release of her EP Freckle Season earlier this year. Freckle Season has five songs, including her big hit, Did It to Myself, which featured on the BBC show that took the world by storm, Normal People.

Orla is also a part of the 39-piece Irish group, Irish Women in Harmony. The group joined together this summer to release a cover of The Cranberries’ hit Dreams to raise money for SAFE Ireland. They raised €250,000 for the charity and remained in the Irish charts for over two months.

The group also formed to highlight the inequality that exists in the Irish music industry. Following the release of the song, Gartland posted to Instagram saying: “growing up in Ireland there were so few female musicians on Irish radio & TV, billed at gigs and festivals.. it’s hard to imagine yourself doing a job when you don’t see or hear others that look like you.”

Pretending will be out everywhere on Friday 16th of October.

Deezer Share New Covers Mixtape ‘InVersions’, Feature Fontaines D.C., Arlo Parks, Alfie Templeman and More

Lily Herd — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 23:19:18 +0000

Deezer have shared InVersions, an exclusive covers album full of completely iconic hits by some of the hottest new artists in the world. In a bid to invest a little energy into the new music scene, during this difficult moment, Deezer contacted a string of exciting and diverse new artists and asked them to put their take on any classic track they fancied. Everything was recorded in isolation and the result, InVersions, dropped today (October 6), exclusive to Deezer.

Among the line-up are Fontaines D.C., with a slow, melancholic cover of The Beach Boys’ ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’. The Beach Boys sometimes have that effect where in completely the right mood they’re perfect – otherwise they’re kind of sickening. Not this cover. The last four lines, which tend to just fade into outro in the original, are haunting. You can catch a clip of it here:

This is what they had to say about it: “Covering a Beach Boys song has always been a scary thing considering the genius arrangements, their playing, their harmonies, everything about it … So ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ we saw this kind of naive perspective towards love and marriage in the lyrics, and we were quite curious to see what would happen when you contrasted that approach with a darker musical palette. So we kind of slowed down the tempo and created a draggier tune for those lyrics to sit on top of.”

A cover is an art form, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s always struck me as a great way to really get to know a band. What Fontaines D.C. say above, for example, shows just how much they understand their industry, and their craft. Perhaps Deezer picked the line-up for InVersions for exactly this reason.

InVersions also presents Arlo Parks’ first song in French: ‘Ta Reine’ by Angèle. Parks explains why this is so special: “I picked ‘Ta Reine’ by Angèle because I find her voice completely mesmerising and soft, and I feel like the topic the song discusses is very important. I’ve always wanted to sing in French since my mum is French and I’m generally just enthralled by this song and her delivery. I hope I can do it justice.”

Really there is nothing to distinguish one moment from another – all of these covers are spectacular. For me, other honourable mentions go towards Alfie Templeman’s ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’, which retains the feel of the original while simultaneously softening everything. It perfectly suits the style that Templeman is really making his own.

Likewise, Orla Gartland’s ‘Nothing Compares to You’ is ambitious – intriguingly, her powerful voice seems to be set against a Radiohead-inspired, subtly electronic take on the melody. When the music falls away for the final refrain, Gartland shows nothing but pure talent.

But, for me, Dream Wife’s ‘Dancing On My Own’ steals the show. It has all the chills of the first time you heard it. It absolutely puts a spotlight on why we all unexpectedly fell in love with Robyn in 2010. This is not because it’s a carbon copy, though; Dream Wife retain all of the best of Robyn’s original, while giving it a spin of their own. If you listen closely, you catch an endearing whisper of “in a galaxy far far far away” just before the bridge.

InVersions could not be more exciting as a music project, but it also feels like a positive force in these bleak times for the music industry. Nigel Harding, who is Deezer’s VP of Global Artist Marketing, explained the thinking behind InVersions. “We all know the music community has been hit hard by the pandemic, especially Indie artists who rely on live gigs. During this tough time, we wanted to do our part and offer support to Indie and Alternative artists with our new Inversions album … I’d love for music fans from all over the world to discover some new favourites on our InVersions album.”

You can stream it here.

Neighbourhood Weekender Adds Third Day to 2021 Festival

Hannah Jaap — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 13:24:59 +0000

UK festival Neighbourhood Weekender has added a new third show date to their 2021 weekend. Usually running across Saturday and Sunday, there will now be extra performances on Friday, to open the festival. Organisers took to Twitter to announce, “For the first time ever #NBHDWKND21 will expand across 3 days with a huge main stage Friday eve lineup.”

Taking place in Warrington’s Victoria Park from 28th-30th May next year, the line-up for the new day will include headliner Gerry Cinnamon, Circa Waves, The Zutons, Jade Bird, and Orla Gartland. To obtain tickets, head to the official website on Friday 11th September from 9.30am (BST). If fans have already purchased weekend tickets prior to Sunday 6th September, they are eligible to gain exclusive access to tickets from today.

Alongside the new acts, the festival will also see the likes of Ian Brown, Sam Fender, and Easy Life on Saturday, and Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Wombats, Tom Walker, Sea Girls, and Sports Team on Sunday. Indie-rock band Circa Waves commented, “We will be playing Neighbourhood Weekender May 2021!! We can’t wait to be playing live again!!”

The 2020 festival was sadly cancelled in just its third year due to Covid-19 guidelines, so bands, fans, and organisers are all incredibly excited to begin holding live shows again. Organisers released a statement which said, “We are delighted that the vast majority of artists playing at the festival have confirmed they will return. Everyone involved in the festival and the artists that are playing are working really hard to give you the festival you wanted.”

Neighbourhood Weekender Festival began in 2018 in Warrington as an expansion of Manchester’s festal of the same name. Past years have seen acts such as George Ezra, Primal Scream, and Richard Ashcroft.

Irish Women in Harmony Stars Speak Out About Inequality in Irish Music Scene

Susan Owens — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 15:59:21 +0000

On Thursday 18th of June, thirty nine Irish female artists formed Irish Women in Harmony to release a single in aid of the charity SAFE Ireland. They joined together to record a cover of The Cranberries’ hit song Dreams. This project came around after reports from An Garda Síochána that domestic violence in Ireland has risen 20% since the beginning of the COVID-19 global health crisis. The song topped the Irish charts and recieved two million views in two days.

The collaboration has also opened the conversation about female representation in the Irish music industry. Organiser and producer, RuthAnne took to her social media to say how proud she was to create this union, saying; “We felt it was time to raise our voices together in unity as the women in music from Ireland and come together to support the domestic abuse victims & survivors.”

Contributer and singer-songwriter Stephaine Rainey spoke to Hot Press to say how in Ireland female artists are usually pitted against each other so this song shows the unity that should exist in the industry.“We need more Irish women headlining the 3Arena. There is absolutely no reason why it can’t happen.” She went on to say “Every other country is producing female superstars – when did Ireland stop doing that? There is so much talent – it just needs focus. We need support.”

Music duo Morgan McIntyre and Gemma Doherty, better known as Saint Sister, also talked to Hot Press and highlighted their experiences, saying; “It’s a shame we still have to shout for women’s voices and their instruments to be heard and recognised.” They went on to say how powerful media representation is and how we need to amplify female voices to achieve gender equality in music.

Other contributers to the song have spoken out on social media about their own anger, and about how they feel left behind by the Irish music industry as a whole. Singer-songwriter Orla Gartland quote tweeted a playlist from Eirewave.ie on the 22nd of May. Eirewave is an online only radio station which aims to play exclusively Irish artists. The playlist detailed the top played Irish music, which did not have a single female artist on it and said “hi just wondering if anyone at @eirewave has ever met or heard of a woman before.”

Following the release of the song, Gartland posted to Instagram saying: “growing up in Ireland there were so few female musicians on Irish radio & TV, billed at gigs and festivals.. it’s hard to imagine yourself doing a job when you don’t see or hear others that look like you.”

As the conversation continues, it will be interesting to see the response from the big names in the Irish music industry and what we can do going forward to support Irish female voices.

Check out the Irish Women in Harmony’s cover of The Cranberries’ Dreams in aid of SAFE Ireland below. SAFE works to save women and children from domestic violence in Ireland.