Ogilala

Ogilala is the second solo album by Billy Corgan (under the name William Patrick Corgan), frontman of The Smashing Pumpkins. The album was released on October 13, 2017, in the United States. It marks Corgan's first solo album since his 2005 debut, TheFutureEmbrace. The album was co-produced by Corgan with Rick Rubin, and does not feature Corgan's longtime collaborator Bjorn Thorsrud. "Aeronaut" preceded the record as its lead single, with a US tour beginning the day after the record's release.

The album's songs are primarily acoustic and are predominantly performed on acoustic guitar, piano and strings, contrasting with much of Corgan's other work. Corgan used an old Yamaha grand piano in the recordings. The song "Processional" marks the first time since The Smashing Pumpkins' break-up in 2000 that Corgan has collaborated with the band's former guitarist James Iha.

A 41-minute short film, Pillbox, was released with the album, and later the 58-minute live video, Neath The Darkest Eves.

Having written the songs for voice and guitar, I put myself in Rick’s hands to take the music wherever he’d like. Normally I would have done more, and tinkered more on production, but rather Rick put the onus on me to deliver at a molecular level via live takes. The rest was simply a reaction.

Pillbox
The album is accompanied with a 41-minute short film written by Corgan and co-directed by Linda Strawberry.

Critical reception
AllMusic praised the album, writing "Like the Smashing Pumpkins albums of the 2010s, Ogilala achieves a delicate balance of ambition and craft. At its core, it's a songwriter's album, but it's not a bunch of folky confessionals. No matter the setting, Corgan peddles heartfelt prog rock and here, when his songs are shorn of solos and kept at a human scale, his imagination feels immediate and bracing."

Consequence also rated highly. While comparing them to all songs composed by Corgan, they wrote that Ogilala "stands out as his most centered, vulnerable, and soothing music yet".

Track listing
Some tracks are cross-faded in the physical version, thus reducing the playing time of the album about 20 seconds.

Personnel

 * Billy Corgan (as William Patrick Corgan) – vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano, Mellotron, photography, production
 * James Iha – guitar and Mellotron on "Processional"
 * Sierra Swan – occasional backing vocals
 * Rick Rubin – production