Vancouver Islands-based singer-songwriter Ora Cogan has assembled a sizable discography since emerging with her debut EP in 2002. With Formless, she releases her eighth album, and it’s out August 25 on vinyl and digital through her own label Prism Tongue. Although the record’s title can be applied to Cogan’s eschewal of tidy encapsulation, rest assured that she exhibits a sturdy command of song form across seven original compositions and two covers including a transformative version of the folk chestnut “Katie Cruel.”
Ora Cogan’s choice to interpret “Katie Cruel” will likely strike newbies to her work as a signifier of a folky, or perhaps a rootsy, artistic temperament. Now, Cogan does have a connection to the folk genre, but it’s also pretty nuanced. In acquainting myself with Formless prior to listening, the descriptor “gothic country” was particularly striking.
Frankly, that’s not a tag I’ve encountered every day, or every month, for that matter. But its usage is fair, as Cogan’s tunes are tough and unpretentious but devoid of twang. She saves the album’s most straightforwardly folky cut, “Is Anything Wrong,” a composition by the late Lhasa de Sela, for last, as “Katie Cruel,” a traditional song well-known today through its treatment by Karen Dalton, is marked by its soaring lushness.
The piece that follows “Katie Cruel,” the striking “Ways of Losing” featuring guests Y La Bamba, begins with some gentle fingerpicking and a vocal duet that brought Josephine Foster to mind, but moves first into singer-songwriter mode and then soon enough kicks into full-band gear. Still, the track is in sharp contrast to the set’s opening groove-pulser “High Noon,” or the song that follows, the spikier twist on ’90s Alt-pop, “Holy Hells.”
Speaking of the ’90s, if she’d been musically active back then, I think it’s fair to say that Cogan would’ve been a comfortable fit for the Lilith Fair tours, although she’d reside on the tougher end of that spectrum, as the unhurried pace of “Cowgirl” is infused with robust amplified string licks. But then “Feel Life” delivers a sharp left turn, diving into a sleek post-punk atmosphere with hints of dream pop.
“Dyed” is quite pretty as it unwinds, but it still thrives on an internal tension with guitar again at the forefront. And “Drifting” is an even deeper beauty move, lush and tender and indeed dreamy (not that far from Julee Cruise territory) until it bursts into full flight late in the track and with trumpets in the mix. Imbued with stylistic range and memorable songs, Formless is further elevated through the clear confidence of its maker. It’s a warm, inviting listen.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
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