Following last month’s “Honey” Canadian singer/songwriter Ora Cogan has this week dropped one of her boldest statements. “Division,” is the latest single from her eagerly awaited new album Hard Hearted Woman, and it stirs up raw emotion in a swirling and swooning fashion. The song feels like a turning point in Cogan’s artistic evolution. The swaggering guitars carry a heartbeat-like rhythm before swelling into a powerful layers of orchestrated synth textures and string atmospherics, it’s fierce but still restrained. Cogan sings gently but with a clarity of purpose, her voice inhabiting every lyrical twist, equal parts vulnerability and resolve, in total command of her narrative.
Lyrically, “Division” is about not giving in to the divisions of the world, all the injustices. It’s a theme that runs deep on her upcoming album and serves as its conspicuous heartbeat.
The song’s video is co-directed with Micah Henry and Paloma Ruiz-Hernandez, thematically taking inspiration from the folk-horror and fantasy genres as characters attempt to escape the tormented realm they inhabit. Matching the track’s emotional thrust with striking visuals, that feel like equal parts dream and reckoning, Cogan moves through scenes that blend performance and narrative. It’s evocative without being literal, the sort of artful ambiguity that rewards repeat viewing.
“Division” probes, exploring depth over dazzle and it’s the restraint in the verses that makes the whole thing feel so potent. The rich arrangements and subtle interplay explore tension and release.
In a recent interview, Corgan described the album as her “unvarnished self,” an idea that “Division” encapsulates beautifully. There’s no artifice in the performance, just a clear-eyed reckoning with fragmentation and the courage it takes to stitch oneself back together.
Hard Hearted Woman is due soon, her debut release on Sacred Bones. “Division,” just like her previous single, stands as a compelling chapter that encourages you to stay for the rest of the story.
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