Ora Cogan’s Formless, released August 25, 2023, is an LP that finds beauty, absurdity, humor, and unlikely joy in the bleakest of times. Formless took form in the abyss of grief and pandemic isolation. “I spent a lot of time wandering aimlessly in the woods with my dog,” said Cogan. The result is an outpouring of ruminations on awkward love, pain, internal struggles, and a fight to find ways to feel good when everything goes bad.
Recorded in mostly off-the-floor takes with rhythm section David Proctor and Finn Smith on analog tape at Vancouver Island’s Risque Disque studio and co-produced by Cogan and Loving’s David Parry, the album features international guest stars including Cormac Mac Diarmada from Lankum, who plays strings on “Feel Life,” and a duet with Y La Bamba on “Ways of Losing.
The record is diverse in stories: “Katie Cruel,” full of ethereal vocals, a shuffling brush snare, and a sitar-like guitar, is a tragic ballad about a sex worker traveling with light infantry soldiers; “Cowgirl” is a psychedelic, country slow jam reckoning with social isolation in grief; and “Feel Life,” a track that dances through the derangement of everyday turmoil and epic, life-changing loss. With a singular voice as much sensation as sound, Ora Cogan seeks out new realities within the smoke-and-mirrors labyrinth of our cruel society.
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