photo credit: Nicole Ngai
Today, Irish singer/songwriter Orla Gartland announces her second studio album Everybody Needs A Hero, due for release on Friday, October 4th via her own label New Friends. She also releases album highlight, “The Hit,” showcasing a slightly softer side to the record.
Pre-order / pre-save Everybody Needs A Hero
Listen to ‘The Hit’
Everybody Needs A Hero explores how Gartland shapeshifts through the currents of a long term relationship and works out how to take up space in a postfeminist world. She explores the idea of a “hero”: someone to look up to, someone to rescue us from ourselves, someone we use to deflect from our own shadow self.
The album came to life between her London studio and the creative sanctuary of Middle Farm Studios in Devon. With Gartland on a constant quest to push herself as a writer and producer, she captained the ship during the writing and recording processes, with strong direction right through to the mixing and mastering. She worked with longtime collaborators Tom Stafford and Peter Miles in co-producing the album, inspired by each producers’ digital and analog approaches.
“The Hit” taps into the good and bad of feeling deep empathy for another, when you’re so close to somebody that you take on their struggles and start to become the same person. Gartland describes the relationship in question as “like a voodoo doll thing… you’re so connected it hurts.” Orla explains, “It’s a nice gesture, because you’re admitting you care about that person so much that when they’re in pain you feel it too, but there’s a point that it can go too far and that’s just not healthy or sustainable.”
Everybody Needs A Hero will feature already released singles “Little Chaos,” “Mine,” “Kiss Ur Face Forever” and today’s album highlight “The Hit”, showcasing a slightly softer side to the record. Everybody Needs a Hero is the follow-up to Gartland’s 2022 full-length debut album, Woman on the Internet, that earned her praise from The New York Times, NME, The Cut, Slant, and more. The album has contributed millions of listens to her over 250 million streams to date, and helped to foster a deeper connection with Gartland’s dedicated fan base worldwide.
Gartland has also announced her first ever headline tour of North America, taking place this November, with many dates selling out almost immediately. The thirteen date tour sees her take in stops across the US and Canada, including New York’s Bowery Ballroom and LA’s Troubadour. Tickets are on sale now, full list of dates below.
Orla Gartland 2024 Tour Dates
– Thursday, November 7th – Cafe 939 – Boston, MA – SOLD OUT
– Friday, November 8th – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY – SOLD OUT
– Saturday, November 9th – Atlantis – Washington, DC – SOLD OUT
– Monday, November 11th – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA – SOLD OUT
– Wednesday, November 13th – Bar Le Ritz – Montreal, QC
– Friday, November 15th – Longboat – Toronto, ON – SOLD OUT
– Saturday, November 16th – Third Man Records – Detroit, MI – SOLD OUT
– Sunday, November 17th – Sleeping Village – Chicago, IL – SOLD OUT
– Thursday, November 21st – Polaris Hall – Portland, OR – SOLD OUT
– Friday, November 22nd – Fox Cabaret – Vancouver, BC – SOLD OUT
– Saturday, November 23rd – Barboza – Seattle, WA – SOLD OUT
– Monday, November 25th – Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA – SOLD OUT
– Tuesday, November 26th – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA – SOLD OUT
About The Author
