Ora Cogan – Hard Hearted Woman

Hard Hearted Woman is the latest album by British Columbia native Ora Cogan, and there's something about her sound that suggests that it's taken shape gradually, even glacially, over the course of all her releases. She blends traditional folk with experimental elements and psychedelic inflections so deftly that it is impossible to imagine it to be the product of anything other than years of dedicatedly honing her craft; the ten songs on Hard Hearted Woman might be the most potently distilled version of it yet. 

'I’m drinking river water like wine', she sings on the hazy, countrified Love You Better, and Cogan’s music has something of the nature of her island upbringing to it. A quietly wild, untamed quality sees her wander through styles here, from the soft rolling drama of Division, which could soundtrack a modern noir film, to the ethereal, intricate Believe in the Devil, via more classically poppy tracks like River Rise. She adds a loose, jazzy new direction to her palette on standout closer Too Late, at the end of another record that sees her carve out genuinely new indie-folk territory, in entirely her own image.

Listen to: Division, Believe in the Devil, Too Late