Artist Spotlight & 10 Questions With: Ora Cogan
Artist feature + interview by Beau Croxton
Ora Cogan by Paloma Ruiz-Hernandez
Ora Cogan’s new album Hard Hearted Woman explores resilience in the face of hardship while beautifully building into soaring heights.
Ora Cogan is a Canadian singer-songwriter whose beautifully hazy songs often feel like lucid dreams; her tunes blur the line between gothic aesthetics, psychedelia and traditional Americana.
Cogan has an entrancing signature sound that mixes haunted folk and psych-rock with a shadowy take on country. Her newly released album Hard Hearted Woman is a spell-casting wonder that details these sounds more vividly than ever with a swirling blend of organs, fiddles, mandolins, 12-string acoustics, pedal steel and more. Hard Hearted Woman was written over the course of a winter in Twin Peaks-like Nanaimo, B.C. It was inspired by “cold-water plunges, long river swims, late-night ruminations on art and politics with friends” and Ora’s long drives through the rural Lillooet landscape to visit her godmother.
The record often gazes into the murky abyss of modern society while exploring the angels and the demons that occupy it. Cogan’s haunted psych-folk, heady themes and mysterious atmosphere all do an excellent job of seductively luring the listener in, but her purest magic lies in the lush and cathartic build of each song– it’s an approach that feels wholly dedicated to delivering the listener to cloud 9.
A prime (and angelic) example of Cogan’s brilliant sense of build is apparent in the opening track “Honey”, which is one of her most divinely gorgeous tunes. As the track weaves its dainty beauty, it feels like the audio equivalent of watching a stunning portrait being painted over 4 minutes. There is a euphoria that is felt upon realizing the track’s full beauty– it feels as if the song realizes itself in real time with the listener. The song also serves as an endearing love letter to the trans community in the face of oppression, and its heartfelt tone resonates beautifully throughout.
Cogan can harness darkness just as well as she can conjure beauty– “Believe In The Devil” is about protecting your spirit during the rise of hate, and “Division” provides a battle cry against the toxic nature of modern society that always seems to pit us against each other.
The gorgeously haunting “Bury Me” is a spooky rocker that strikes like a lightning bolt straight through the A-side of the record. The weeping dissonance of the tremolo guitars rides with a brooding pulse until coming head-to-head with Cogan’s aching belting. The song’s showstopping arrangements deliver a ghostly, witchy and stunning essence, which is sure to be an absolutely cinematic moment at her upcoming live shows.
Today, Ora Cogan will be kicking off on her West Coast Tour starting with two shows in Nanaimo. If you're on the West Coast, definitely catch her in concert, but if not– be sure to let Hard Hearted Woman sweep you away wherever you stream music.
Check out our interview with Ora below!
Q&A
1. Congrats on your fantastic new record– how are you feeling now that Hard Hearted Woman is now out in the world for all to enjoy?
ORA COGAN: Why thank you! I feel pretty vulnerable but also really grateful to work with all these incredible musicians. We just finished the first tour in the UK & Ireland now gearing up for West Coast Canada & US!
2. How was it co-producing with David Parry again, and what did he add to the record as a co-producer?
ORA: David is a brilliant and enigmatic musician, engineer and producer. We can be like two currents moving in different directions and that can be so special. He has a way of making everything feel like it’s alive, that there is breath and air and a warm natural feeling in the recordings. I think a lot of the time records can feel so forced or manicured and working with David, things always end up sounding so natural. I'm very grateful for all the work he has done with me.
3. How did your environment in British Columbia influence the record?
Growing up in a place where Indigenous communities have stewarded their lands in a much more sophisticated way than colonial societies means living in a world where there are intact eco-systems. It is also a place where the colonial government and resource extraction industries are determined to decimate and abuse those communities and ecosystems so it is a painful relationship to be complicit in as a settler there. There is so much to fight for and so much work to be done… All of that has, I’m sure, brought beauty and pain and dissonance to the music I make and to my human soul.
Ora Cogan by Alexa Black
4. “Honey” is a lovely tune. I heard that it was a response to anti-trans legislation– I’d love to hear a bit more about your process for it.
All the songs I write are about many things. I’ve never been able to sit down and write a song about something specifically. I see songwriting more like being a conduit or a transmitter for something to come through. While I was writing “Honey”, I was thinking of friends of mine who are trans and facing legislation aimed at taking away their health care and rights, and facing oppression. There are too many people signing up for a cruel system of thought, so angry at other people for just being themselves… how can anyone imagine it would be ok to feel entitled to take away someone else's rights? This song is a love letter to anyone who faces hatred for being who they are.
5. The music video for “Honey” is also very beautiful and iconic— that must have been a blast. How did that come together?
My BFF Paloma Ruiz-Hernandez is a long time collaborator. She is brilliant and was the one who put this together. She brought us back to the same bar we shot Cowgirl in. She brought in friends from the Nanaimo music scene to act in the video and dreamed up that whole world. Micah Henry was our DOP for this and has been so supportive and amazing, working with me on videos for years now... He is such a brilliant director in his own right. It was a really fun day. Paloma is always dressing me up, or down lol. She has a kind and inspiring way of working with everyone and bringing out the best in us. There were plot lines I wasn’t even aware of until the edit haha.
6. “Bury Me” is such a haunting and brilliant tune— I would love to hear about your process on it, and why you paired it with the other songs on the Bury Me EP that was released ahead of the album.
It is hard to talk about the process. It felt very natural writing that song so it would be hard to pull apart. The song came through very clearly. Finn Smith’s drumming on this song is epic and David Parry did such incredible work with the amp tone, the “mean” drum tone, everything… It was a team effort with the energy of the recording. I included it on the Bury Me EP because it felt like there was this other vein when we were recording that deserved it’s own room.
7. What can you tell me about “Believe in the Devil?”
It is a song about someone surviving this era where there is a rise in hateful and oppressive systems of thought and protecting their spirit.
8. Are there any influences that your fans might not expect on Hard Hearted Woman?
Irish traditional music, Bill Withers, Pablo Casals.
9. What are some current artists and releases that you are listening to or admiring?
I love One Leg One Eye, Elaine Malone, Y La Bamba, Hilary Woods. My friend Ida Maidstone who is playing synth with me is incredible. Finn Smith who plays drums with me also has a clown jazz project called The Bingus Art Ensemble that is so good. There are a lot of Nanaimo bands I love.
10. What’s next for you?
I’m going to be in a van with the band for the foreseeable future, haha.
Hard Hearted Woman by Ora Cogan is out on all streaming platforms now.
You can get your tickets to Ora’s West Coast tour HERE!
& stream below
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