Orla Gartland Debuts Bold New Single 'Pretending'

Fast-rising Dublin singer-songwriter, musician, and producer Orla Gartland today releases her confessional and infectious bold new single "Pretending," the first release to be lifted from her eagerly-anticipated, as-of-yet untitled forthcoming debut album, due for release in 2021 via The Orchard. Listen to the track written and co-produced by Orla alongside frequent collaborator Tom Stafford below.

Today, Orla also premiered the accompanying music video featuring the directorial debut of producer Rosie Brear (Joesef, Big Moon, Declan McKenna). Watch the video.

"Conversations with strangers are exhausting when everyone's playing a part and God knows I've been guilty of it,' explains Gartland of her new single. "'Pretending' is a song about being done with putting on an act for other people. I worked on the song a lot over lockdown and really valued the time I had to pour into it, though it did feel odd to work on a song about being at a party when parties feel like a distant memory. 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."

"Pretending" follows Gartland's first two acclaimed EPs, 2019's Why Am I Like This? and the follow up Freckle Season, which was released in February this year. Between them, Gartland's songs have amassed over 45 million streams and more than 750,000 Spotify monthly listeners, and seen her compared to artists such as Stevie Nicks, St. Vincent, Regina Spektor and HAIM.

Born and raised in Dublin, 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, she honed her craft online, before heading out on tour the day she finished school. On her return she packed her bags and moved to London, spending the next few years writing, recording, touring and gathering fans apace.

Photo Credit: Karina Barberis