''Gaja Hornby'' is the fourth studio album and first Polish-language album by Polish singer

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

. It was released digitally on 17 May 2019 and physically on 31 May 2019 by Artistars under exclusive license from Powerhouse, only in Poland. The album introduces Maragret's

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

Gaja Hornby. ''Gaja Hornby'' charted at number 13 in Poland. Its title track was released as the first single in April 2019, and was followed by "Serce Baila", "Chwile bez słów" (featuring Kacezet), and "Ej chłopaku". Margaret embarked on a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

in October 2019, to accompany the album's release.

Background and development

In 2018, Margaret revealed that she was working on her first Polish-language album. In March 2019, in an interview with ''Uroda Życia'' magazine, she announced that the title of the album would be ''Gaja Hornby'', and that it would be released in April 2019; its release was later pushed back to 17 May. Prior to the album's release Margaret described it as her most honest record to date. The album was named after and introduced her

Gaja Hornby. She created the name for her personal

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account at the beginning of her career to protect her privacy. It is a combination of a name she wished she was given at birth and the name of her favourite author

Nick Hornby Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir ''Fever Pitch'' and novels '' High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work f ...

. Margaret explained that the reason she decided to use it as a name for the album was because this record is "much more personal" than her previous releases. She added that she is now ready to share the more personal side of her life with her fans as she is now older and has a "thicker skin". Margaret announced that the album would be reissued at the beginning of 2020, after initially announcing an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

as its sequel. Eventually, both projects were shelved.

Music and lyrics

''Gaja Hornby'' incorporates a more

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

sound in comparison to Margaret's previous

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releases, and explores themes such as

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and the dark side of fame.

Promotion

Singles

The album's title track was released as its lead single on 22 April 2019. The second and third singles, "Serce Baila" and "Chwile bez słów" featuring Kacezet, were released on 3 June 2019 and 10 July 2019 respectively. The fourth single, "Ej chłopaku", was released on 6 September 2019. Margaret also released a

lyric video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the album's track "Błyski fleszy, plotki, ścianki" in October 2019.

Tour

Margaret embarked on a

Gaja Hornby Tour The Gaja Hornby Tour is the first headlining concert tour by Polish singer Margaret, in support of her fourth studio album, ''Gaja Hornby'' (2019). It visited five clubs in Poland between 2 and 25 October 2019. Background and development The to ...

, her first headlining

, to accompany the album's release. It visited five clubs in Poland between 2 and 25 October 2019; the sixth and final show scheduled for 30 October was cancelled two days prior for undisclosed reasons. During the tour, Margaret performed songs from ''Gaja Hornby'', some of her biggest hits, and three new songs.

Critical reception

Jarek Szubrycht in ''

Gazeta Wyborcza ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of "real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the g ...

'' praised Margaret for making progress as an artist and noted that Polish producers with whom she worked on the record significantly influenced its sound, which differs from that of her previous work, regarding it as a positive change.

Background and development

Music and lyrics

Promotion

Singles

Tour

Critical reception

Accolades

Track list

Charts

Release history

References