Orla Gartland Charts Twentysomething Chaos With Woman On The Internet
By Carson Mlnarik
With 26 years under her belt, much of which is crystallized in a uncontrived social media presence dating back to 2009,
Orla Gartland has gleaned a lesson or two about life. It’s especially apt that the Dublin-born singer-songwriter opens her debut album
Woman on the Internet, out Friday (August 20), with “Things That I’ve Learned,” a laundry list of directives acquired from her odyssey through twentysomething chaos. Don’t compare yourself to others, take up space, mention what’s on your mind — and, as she sings, don’t purchase the jeans that you’ve never seen. “You’ll regret it.”
There’s a universality and wizened edge to her words over a staccato beat and the chorus of her own voice, coupled with a douse of winking quirkiness, like she’s reciting from your diary. Yet it’s also
her diary, recounting late night anxieties, fallen companions, lying lovers. And it also resonates profoundly with fans (like her 269,000-plus
YouTube subscribers) who’ve seen themselves reflected in Gartland since her start.
The release of her debut album marks a “surreal” moment for the London-based performer, who noticed herself itching to make something bigger soon after releasing her third EP
Freckle Season last year. “Having these milestones, it’s the only thing that gives you shape between one year and the next,” Gartland told MTV News. “It feels like a big thing.”
Though she has been a go-to “woman on the internet” since her teens, the record’s eponymous character refers to someone slightly more nebulous — one of these virtual self-help types who’s suggestions we turn to for party planning, makeup tricks, and the motivation to get up in the morning. “I like the idea that she’s this nameless, faceless [person] I turn to While I feel like there’s no one in my real life that will assist me,” Gartland mentioned. “She’s like a seedy influencer. Not the ideal role model, however there’s some comfort in turning to her.”
Written over lockdown in 2020 and recorded last October,
Woman on the Internet isn't a quarantine record however a meditation on the life we’re getting back to. While in its 11 tracks, Gartland swings big and small both sonically and lyrically, dialing up the reverb to investigate the harm in a relationship on “Codependency,” letting out a warlike cry against toxic masculinity on the thumping “Zombie!,” And losing herself in the weightlessness of synths and self-comparison on “More Like You.” Mixing elements of alt-rock, folk, and synth-spangled indie pop, she celebrates the bond of collective mediocrity with a palpable euphoria on “You’re Not Special, Babe,” while confronting the guilt of leaving house on “Bloodline/Difficult Things.” To that end, she interpolates audio from her own house videos between heavy-handed blows of unflinching honesty, like any time if she sings “I keep it all in / ‘Cause we never talk about hard things.”
Loneliness, impostor syndrome, and regret during the time of Instagram-optimized life events and unread texts are through-lines on the record. Nevertheless Gartland sought to make design a body of work that discussed to the totality of her twenties rather than a concept record, taking inspiration from
Phoebe Bridgers’s first album — already a certified “classic” in her mind. “I wanted, sort of like
Stranger in the Alps, for it to be just a variety of stories that are bound with each other by a time in your life,” she mentioned. Its breadth is a testament to her developments as both a writer and producer soon after recently taking on a bigger role in the production process, scrutinizing specifics down to every last handclap and guitar strum. “I worked for a long time with other producers and expected someone else to understand what was going on in my head and know how to execute it,” she explained. “I’ve got a long way to go, however I find it so satisfying to just have an idea and have the ability to execute it myself immediately after so long of staring at the back of dudes’ heads in studios being like, ‘Come on, just do it.’”
Her flair for creativity spills into the album’s fancy videos, where she took inspiration from Netflix’s
Sex Education to craft a feel that’s “British nevertheless [with] a very American aesthetic.” From the dreaded indie fuckboy with a Smiths mixtape in the
Moonrise Kingdom-inspired “Zombie!” Clip to her washroom POV at a party in “Pretending,” Gartland and co-director Greta Isaac have compiled a visual world that speaks to the record’s cynical nevertheless sentient themes. Their most recent clip for “You’re Not Special, Babe” finds Orla confronted by a crew of dancing clowns who eventually convince her to give into their choreography — both a metaphorical and literal example of Gartland stepping outdoors her comfort zone. “The only two times I have danced were in [the “More Like You” and “You’re Not Special, Babe”] videos,” she admitted. “I would imagine myself to be exceptionally physically awkward. If there’s a dancing situation, I’m not in the middle of that circle at all.”
Mastering the violin and teaching herself guitar at 11, Gartland turned to YouTube for songwriting feedback as a youngster who couldn’t get into open-mic nights in Dublin. A move to London acquainted her with a crowd of likeminded DIY musicians, including fellow YouTuber Dodie, who helped in sharpening her sardonic wit and unfiltered honesty. Though she owes the begin of her career to the video platform’s primordial early aughts era, Gartland admitted her relationship with social media has changed as her follower count has grown. As likes have become weaponized and TikTok algorithms dictate success, she feels nostalgic for the way things used to be. “I try not to be boomer about it,” she joked. “TikTok is beneficial for some people, yet I think it’s really quite a dangerous thing for some music because it’s all just about grabbing people’s attention so quick. The entire platform moves so fast.”
While the world wide web has come a long way since the early days of YouTube where “people were given space to grow” — and Gartland occasionally wants to toss her phone in the ocean a la Lorde — she acknowledges its pros and cons. “I’m grateful for what it’s done to me, nevertheless then some days I’m like, ‘If I didn’t have music to promote, I would delete this shit so quick,’” she said.
Perhaps what’s kept her at bay are the fans who’ve shown up to live-stream concerts in droves and leaned into Gartland’s grassroots approach, changing lock screens at the Apple Store to her face, crafting fan art, and making use of a parent’s popular teddy-bear Instagram account to promote the record. Soon after a packed performance at Suffolk’s Latitude Festival in July, her next big jaunt is a tour via United Kingdom and Ireland, kicking off in October. Despite the “unglamorous” conditions that come with touring at her level — think heavy gear, late nights, and “hilariously gross” buses — she’s excited to get back to gigging. “The focus that having a show gives each person, the camaraderie of it, the usual objective and the teamwork, that’s what I just absolutely live for,” she said.
With her first full-length album out in the world, a newfound confidence in the studio, plus a big year ahead, Gartland has come into her own. Still, even as her music stays flecked with self-deprecating honesty, balancing her public and private lives is a priority. Her choice to come out as bisexual at the end of Pride Month was not one she made lightly, having grown up in a Catholic community. Right after living “with the thought for several weeks,” she determined to tweet it out as a means of shaking off “the remnants of that upbringing” and learning to “own it a little more.” (“I feel like celebrating by screaming it from some virtual rooftop,” she posted.) “It’s both a big deal along with not a big deal at all,” she mentioned. “And it gave me an excuse to talk about it with my parents, which is crucial to me. I required to prepare that for myself.”
Yet Gartland begins her album off with the things that she’s learned while in her twenties, she’s hesitant to declare any guiding opinions for her younger self. As an artist who’s followed her own impulses for the last 12 years, perhaps her secret is that she doesn’t overthink it: “Sometimes I need to do a bunch of writing to realize what’s at the front of my mind.”
Have something to discuss? You can use the form below, to leave your thoughts or opinion regarding Orla Gartland Charts Twentysomething Chaos With Woman On The Internet.