Orla Gartland Shares 'You're Not Special, Babe' Ahead Of Debut Album

Fast-rising Dublin singer-songwriter-producer Orla Gartland today shares her new single "You're Not Special, Babe" with an accompanying choreographed video. Last month Gartland announced details of her long-awaited debut album Woman on the Internet, due for release on August 20th via her own label New Friends distributed via The Orchard.

Featuring the previously released singles "More Like You," "Pretending," "Zombie!" and "Do You Mind?", Woman on the Internet is the culmination of years of music making, live shows and Gartland honing her production skills. Pre-order the album now HERE.

On new single "You're Not Special, Babe," a real highlight from Gartland's debut album, she says: "Growing up is weird and my twenties feel like chaos. 'You're Not Special, Babe' is a coming-of-age song written to remind myself that everyone goes through all of it; good times, bad times, strange times, dizzying highs & extreme lows. The title sounds mean but it's really meant to be a comforting message!

I wrote and produced this song with my friend and collaborator Tom Stafford at the beginning of 2020. Lyrically it set a tone for the rest of the album tracks to follow; no bulls - just a messy scrapbook of honest, matter-of-fact thoughts. We demoed the song together in Tom's London studio and then later brought it to Middle Farm Studios in Devon where we set up for 3 weeks - my band playing on this track took it to the next level & gave it the raucous energy it was missing. Sonically 'You're Not Special, Babe' has everything I love - ethereal synths, shimmery guitars, harmonies, tiny drums and big drums. I cannot wait to play this song live."

About the song's video, she adds: "I directed the video for 'You're Not Special, Babe' with my best friend and creative director Greta Isaac. I love working on these visuals with Gret because she knows me and these songs so well. In the song I sing lyrics directed at myself but for this video we dreamed up a movement-based piece (choreographed by Elan Isaac) that personifies the voices in three clowns (played by incredible dancers Hannah Hornsby, Kyll Thomas-Cole and Anaïs Reymond).

The clowns appear in my space and initially seem to pester me; we wanted the clowns to feel like friends trying to drag me out of a dark place, rejected at first but embraced in the end. At the end of the video I've joined them and seem vibrant, positive and back to my old self - at which point the clowns have done their job and disappear. This video presented us with challenges but it was all so worth it in the end."

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 from 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.

Woman on the Internet will follow Gartland's first two acclaimed EPs, 2019's Why Am I Like This? and the follow up Freckle Season, which was released in February last year. Between them, Gartland's songs have amassed over 75 million streams and more than 750,000 monthly Spotify 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.

Stream Orla Gartland's new single "You're Not Special, Babe" HERE off her forthcoming debut album Woman on the Internet available for pre-order now HERE and due out everywhere on August 20th.

Listen here:

To post a comment, you must register and login.