Orra announce debut EP to follow upcoming single, “Friends”

Vancouver-based Indie duo, Orra is set to release their fifth single on April 17. Following it will be their debut EP. Ahead of these releases, The Gateway chatted with the duo about their origins, their upcoming single, and their debut EP, Hold On To Yourself.

Sarah Orr and Cam McGregor, the two behind Orra, met while studying biochemistry at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. After meeting through mutual friends in their program, the two ended up writing music together and beginning a romantic relationship. Orr said that their dating and music stories are intertwined. With their closeness and support for each other, their musical chemistry came fast.

Despite not originally looking to release music, they released their first single, “First Time,” a year after moving to Vancouver in 2021. “We just started writing songs about moving through your 20s, those early stages of adulthood, and navigating relationship dynamics with other people,” Orr explained. 

“There’s some things that I had been looking for in other people’s writing that I wanted to hear. I want to put that out there,” Orr says

She added that at the beginning of their collaboration, she wasn’t entirely sure what direction to go in lyrically. “At the start of me thinking about releasing music and our collaboration together, it was me thinking about what kind of feeling I have that I want to put in a song that is cathartic, truthful, and genuine to an experience I’m having,” she said. “Early on, I was like, ‘I’m not sure who will relate to this. There was some kind of struggle between me being like ‘will people listen to my music or should I just be [writing] it and hiding it away in my journal forever.” 

Orr said that over time, the lyrics have changed to reflect lessons learned. Now, she’s looking to represent those who may not feel represented. “A lot of what I’m writing about is things that I’ve learned about myself, or things I’ve felt more brave to talk about and look inwards on. [My songwriting] has evolved to now feeling like I want to put music out because I want people to relate to what I’m experiencing,” Orr explained. “There’s some things that I had been looking for in other people’s writing that I wanted to hear. I want to put that out there.” 

McGregor pointed out that after some of their live shows, folks in the audience have come up to them to chat about their lyrics and told them they found the lyrics relatable. “I really love when someone tells me if they tell me, ‘oh, I felt that way before.’ It’s really meaningful to me,” Orr said. 

McGregor and Orr said that the lyrics sometimes are contrasted by the instrumentals, but more often aided with unique instrumentals and sounds. 

“I feel like my job here is just trying to highlight [Orr],” McGregor said. “If there’s lines that are really vulnerable or stick out, I take things down and try to let it cut through for the audience a bit more. Or there’s lots of different sounds that might sound vulnerable, like something thin or something high pitched.” 

The band also uses a mix of different genres in their instrumentation. “We blend modern sounds with a lot of nostalgic influences, sounds that are stamped in different eras. They’re all pulled together for our music,” Orr said. These nostalgic influences range from ’70s music and ’80s synths to disco. For modern sounds, they noted Lorde and Billie Eilish.

“It was interesting writing together from a different perspective,” McGregor says

Their upcoming single, “Friends,” explores adult relationships, drawing on unique past experiences from both Orr and McGregor. “The goal was to not be too specific with what kind of relationship so people can relate,” Orr said. 

McGregor and Orr co-wrote the song, both writing about adult relationships of different kinds. One wrote from the perspective of a friendship, and the other from the perspective of a romantic relationship. “It was interesting writing together from a different perspective,” McGregor said.

Orr said that with the two of them writing from different perspectives aided in their desire to allow the audience to see themselves in the track. “I think it’s cool to leave some things up to interpretation,” she added.

After this upcoming single, the band is set to release their debut EP this coming fall. The record sets out to explore themes on par with their earlier releases. “It’s been a collaboration between the two about us navigating life circumstances and coming into ourselves,” Orr said.

McGregor said “I really like the idea of it being about not letting adulthood conform you. And, not losing yourself or your youth.”