There are days when the sunshine seems brighter, your feet feel lighter, and your smile looks whiter, and there are days when there’s only the cold.

Orla Gartland’s new EP Freckle Season permanently stained my week with a glowy varnish that shades everything in a kinder light. Freckle Season turned the frigid gray into bright sunshine, light feet, and white teeth. 

Freckle Season warmed me despite the cold.

Freckle Season debuts with “Did It To Myself,” a percussive song with lyrical garnishes and a strumming guitar as a cherry on top. As soon as the song started, I felt a slap across my face.

But, it felt oh-so-good.

This song shouts with the sizzle of piquant lyricism and rhythm. “Did It To Myself” delivers the sensation elicited by strobe lights and roller-skating rinks. It attacks you with the heat of summer—but not temperature-wise. “Did It To Myself” gives you the heat of heartbeats, red cheeks, and pounding in your ears. 

“Did It To Myself” had me sweltering in its heat, but I was loving every second of it.  

“Figure It Out” gives the illusion that this album’s thermostat is going to drop from its height established by its predecessor, after all, it starts calmly and innocently—a pond brimming with still water. Yet, forty seconds in, the clouds of stillness parted, and the sun’s bright smile returned, allowing the heat to course through my blood once again.

“Figure It Out” evokes the same happy rage as biting into a too-hot slice of apple pie, but it’s still apple pie. “Figure It Out” leaves a bit of a burn, but it’s a burn of ambrosian taste.

Everything about “Figure It Out” is sublimely stringent.

“Heavy” marks the halfway point of the EP, and it’s a stark contrast to the two opening songs. It’s a sad song that stays sad. “Heavy” feels like diving into a swimming pool that never warms up after acclimating yourself to it.

Yet, “Heavy” makes you realize the warmth that the cold has to offer.

It’s an unnoticeable warmth. It’s a shrug of heat. It’s the butterfly kiss of the sun’s rays.

“Oh GOD” is very similar to “Heavy” in the way that it’s a hot-cold, a happy-sad. “Oh GOD” is the unrequited love that teaches you a lesson. It’s a screaming and venting session in the passenger seat of your best friend’s car. It’s looking at your crush the exact same way the next day.

There’s not much to say about “Oh GOD.” True to its name, it will leave you saying ‘oh, god.’

The EP ends with “New Friends.” It’s neither hot nor cold, happy nor sad. “New Friends,” with its soft strumming and even softer words, is the feeling of content. It’s walking by yourself because you’re the only company you need. It’s making yourself smile and telling yourself you’re beautiful.

“New Friends” is being the only friend you need. 

Despite being solely composed of five songs, Freckle Season rampaged through my emotions—and lovingly so. This EP is everything on the spectrum.

It’s hot and cold.

It’s happy and sad.

It’s Freckle Season.