Ora Cogan – Hard Hearted Woman

Everything has been leading to this moment for Ora Cogan. With a nearly twenty-year career, the Vancouver-based musician has released a steady string of albums that blur the lines between folk, psychedelia, and cosmic country. Her Bandcamp page teems with hidden treasures, making the perfect accompaniment to a lazy afternoon. Among them is 2023’s Formless, a post-pandemic release that finds her collaborating with a diverse array of artists, weaving their contributions into an exquisite reverb-drenched tapestry of folk-rock.

Elevated yet approachable, Hard Hearted Woman offers a powerful entry point into Cogan's quietly bewitching world. Established in the scenic harbour city of Nanaimo, she assembled a familiar crew of musicians that benefit from the authentic feel of a real band effort. Wrapped in her soft, wistful vocals, songs like “Limits” and “Outgrowing” have a jazzy swing to them, swaying as delicately as a passing breeze. Whereas on the strings-laced “Honey,” one of the more timely statements here, Cogan resists anti-trans measures without resorting to the preachy platitudes that people give in online spaces. Equally austere in its beauty, “Believe in the Devil” explores one's recurring spiral of destruction, carried by steady fingerpicking that suits its tragic pastoral poetry. On “Devil,” much like the bongo-led percussive groove of “The Smoke,” Cogan sounds fully in her element, settling into a gentle, meditative flow that echoes the haunting neo-folk of her earlier work.

Varied yet elegantly stitched together, Hard Hearted Woman shows the many sides of Cogan, whose story is as resilient as the subjects she depicts. Committed to her art, she remains open yet mysterious, something she openly reckons with over the synth-tinged goth rock of “Division.” “Do you feel more alive?,” she muses over a brooding ambient backdrop that ultimately disintegrates. The answer to that question is a resounding yes.

Hard Hearted Woman is out now via Sacred Bones.