Good old Leonard drops albums at the speed of light, just as he would as he was at the beginning of his career. Three releases in the past four years certifies him as a prolific senior. Although it is hard to expect from the 83 year old to create a groundbreaking music, Cohen is like a thunder that strikes at the same spot twice. With the same effects.
You Want It Darker sounds like the second half of Popular Problems, and it is just as interesting. The opening track You Want It Darker is a stellar piece of blues, the song that could come from the brains of only one other man – Bob Dylan. Obscure blues will return once again on It Seemed The Better Way, somewhere nearby the record’s closure.
I wish there was a treaty we could sing sighs Cohen on the album’s second track with radiant sections of wooden trumpets and piano. Failed relationships in his interpretation sound glorious, because the memories make them more beautiful than they ever were. Musically speaking, songs are moored into the Americana.
On The Level is a piece of traditional soul, one that could be ascribed to Otis Redding and James Carr. Leaving The Table starts with effective riff, albeit not significantly different from the ones we are used to hear from Richard Hawley.
Travelling Light is a combination of Greek melos and electronic, with Cohen’s macabre vocal. As he grows older, his voice becomes more and more suggestive. In every sang note, Cohen adds miles of his sagacity, equanimity and yearning for life.
Steer Your Way brings a delicate interplay of violin and Cohen’s luring voice. The singer is not the prince of darkness, he yearns for senses. Depressive tone that is woven in his vocal is not the reflection of disappointment, rather never-ending wistfulness for emotional experiences
You Want It Darker proves the old man is still in top form.
