Album Review: Orla Gartland - 'Everybody Needs a Hero'
When Orla released her debut of Woman on the Internet in 2021, it was soon to be apparent that Gartland would become a household name amongst the alternative scope. Lauded across both the UK and Ireland, Woman on the Internet was a beautifully-crafted debut desperate to show off Orla's artistic freedom and creative indulgence. Ear-marked with the delicate offering More Like You, her debut was the beginning of something cardinal.
Her next move was to be the seismic stint with viral hit Why Am I Like This? which featured on Netflix's coming-of-age giant Heartstopper. This undoubtedly led to her dedicated fanbase growing evermore, as the track numbers tolled to over 700 million views and nearly 400,000 TikTok creations. Just like that, a strong-willed female artist became the voice of a generation.
Now, she treads a new path with her sophomore follow-up, Everybody Needs a Hero. Led by blossoming Little Chaos, Orla's prominent songwriting is on full show here, as she steers head-on into a louder, angular version of alternative sound. It's more self-assured and confident than anything else Orla has released - perhaps testament to Orla's ever-growing songwriting prowess.
At the heart of it, Everybody Needs A Hero is an exploration in the trails and tribulations of a long-term relationship, while trying to find a voice that's loud and clear enough in a postfeminist world. It's pragmatically bold, brutish and everything in-between.
Of course, upon closer inspection into her second enterprise, it's not all-foot-on-the-acceleration-pedal. While we see the happy animated Orla in a relationship with Little Chaos and Kiss Your Face Forever, we also see the honest fragility present with Mine and self-titled closer in a portrayal of always needing someone to look up to, someone to rescue us from ourselves. This record is not without its quirks either, it's whammed with Orla idioms that makes Orla well... Orla. Backseat Driver have a fuzzy synth backline present, while stuttering Late to the Party is another irk led with a wallop of guitar thrashings - fellow indie party-goer Declan McKenna joins in on the camaraderie.
It's the right next step for Orla's journey as a self-made industry powerhouse and in an industry that is not so female-dominated; Orla is doing it all. Working alongside longtime collaborators Tom Stafford and Peter Miles, Orla took the lead on writing (of course), recording, mixing and mastering. All for the album to be wrapped and packaged up on her own label, New Friends.
The emphatic Everybody Needs A Hero offers up a slice of familiarity with Orla's signature storytelling - but pushes her artistry in a new emphatic direction as she tackles individuality, femininity and love.
Orla is finishing up her string of in-store record shows and then flying over the pond to begin her first full-length tour in North America and Canada. Most notable dates will be Bowery Ballroom in New York and Troubadour in West Hollywood. With the US tour being a top-of-the-bucket-list moment ever since she was a thirteen, it will be surely one to remember for both her and her new wave of fans across the sea.
Words by Alex Curle
