Orla Gartland teams up with Matt Maltese, Liang Lawrence, and Martin Luke Brown on Trying soundtrack

Gartland has followed the footsteps of Guy Garvey, Maisie Peters, Bear’s Den and BEKA in writing the soundtrack for Trying. The eight-episode comedy stars BAFTA nominee Esther Smith and Rafe Spall, with an ensemble cast including Darren Boyd, Siân Brooke, Celia Imrie, Phil Davis, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Colin Morgan.

The soundtrack is Gartland’s first new music since her 2024 LP Everybody Needs a Hero, and it features collaborations with Matt Maltese, Liang Lawrence and Martin Luke Brown, with first single "At The End Of The Day" arriving today. The track was inspired by the show's lead characters and Gartland's own parents, explaining: “It’s about looking back on the perfectly imperfect life you’ve built, all you’ve been through together and thinking sometimes I’m a nightmare and sometimes you’re a nightmare and I AM STILL MAD ABOUT YOU.”

“I absolutely loved making this soundtrack,” says Gartland of the soundtrack, which was produced by longtime collaborator Tom Stafford and is set to arrive on 8 July, the same day as the new season premiere. “The task was beautifully straightforward: write eight songs, one for the closing scene of each episode. I started by writing about the characters’ arcs in the series; tales of love, growth, family – what I didn’t expect was that somewhere along the way it all became about my own experiences.”

Trying OST artwork

Trying OST tracklist

“Vertigo”
“So Perfect (feat. Matt Maltese)”
“Weird Time”
“Favourite Idiot (feat. Liang Lawrence)”
“The Power”
“The Way It Was (feat. Martin Luke Brown)”
“Is Love Enough?”
“At The End Of The Day”