Ora Cogan has given us new music just ahead of her gig at Roadburn 2025 in the form of her four song EP Bury Me and this one is again a prime example of the connection between Americana and New Folk.
One can easily see that connection when listening to the way she incorporates for example the violin into her soundstage. The final, instrumental track called ”Hunting the Moon” is a prime example for that, as the main melodic instrument throughout the track is not the hushed acoustic guitar in the background, but the crystalline strings centerstage guiding us along the lines which sound like hills and valleys of the Irish hinterland, where the wind roams through the fields of barley (or Athenry for that matter). One feels the late summer wind blowing into one’s face while the soft final beams of sunlight touch the back and grace the barley with the same golden cladding that will be the characteristic of the whisky distilled from it.
But there are also other moments on this record when she shows a very different side, for example with the opening title track, whose psychedelic longing seems more akin to the more Laurel Canyon-like Fleetwood Mac moments like, ”Tusk”, “The Chain” or ”Gold Dust Woman”. Generally speaking, one can surely see connections between Stevie Nicks-era ‘Mac, as Ora’s voice has the same, near-magical quality to it. Other comparisons would be Heather Nova or A.A. Williams, especially the latter might be the best one, as the longing for something out of reach, for something beyond one’s own control or maybe even fate.
The last musical comparison to draw here is Country, because the drumming in the third track ”The North” features one of the most amazing Johnny Cash-soundalike chugga chugga drum lines this side of the millennium. The song is driving and even though musically simplistic, it shows how effective that approach can be.
Ora Cogan proves how well Psychedelic, Folk, Country and Americana can be combined to a fairy-like armosphere which will enchant everyone and that should push Ora even further up the ladder of artists to reckon with – also outside of a certain genre. For her appeal is surely universal and not restricted to one little box.
