Adam Cohen’s most successful record to date was 2011’s ‘Like A Man’, his fourth studio release and an album that delved into his arguably biggest USP as an artist: the fact that his father is Leonard Cohen. Coming to terms with the family connection that raised him, the pressure of a Gold-certified record and a world tour led Adam to scrap the album that followed, and to return to the houses he grew up in to record ‘We Go Home’. The successor to an album that was sparse and built from a nylon-string guitar, the addition of his touring band to the new record adds a fresh but warm element that creates more discourse for analysis. It also provides a strong variety of songs that borrow from roots, folk, indie and even soft rock in order to explicitly tell the stories that need to be told.
Adam describes many of the tracks as conversations; whether those he’s had with his father, wants to have with his son Cassius when the time comes, or those he’s simply having with himself. Coming from such an honest place means they hit home with listeners much harder, highlighting the complexities of emotion in everyday life that are rarely touched upon in such depth. His voice rings out above the accompaniment in each instance, husky, at times rough, but always heartrendingly genuine, his delivery as perfectly folksy as his production approach. It is important to really consider the musical background of such an artist and recognize especially in this case the sounds that are most familiar to them. As a child, Adam would have grown up listening to his dad play among the records that had influenced Leonard himself, and what results is all of these memories manifested in a modern but traditionally-minded collection with an identity of its own. In ‘Uniform’, one of the album’s highlights, he sings of the importance of raising your voice in a chorus as standout and ear-catching as any he has written. While the verses remain relatively introspective and understated, the refrain announces itself in style not least for its Mumford & Sons/Lumineers commercial folk vibe, anthemic in structure and theme.
Another key track on the record is actually Uniform’s successor, another meaningful anthem titled ‘Love Is’ that devotes its third and fourth lines to showing support toward gay relationships. Simple but hard-hitting lyrically, it opts for strong choir harmonies, echoing organ and a gentle R&B flavor in the clap beat, while classical strings peek in during the bridge. Despite the apparent differences between such elements, each works together wonderfully, making the song sound as big and important as it truly is. This tendency toward the dramatics in an acoustic arena can be seen in ‘Put Your Bags Down’, a fairly sparse arrangement suddenly exploding with dynamic strings and Adam’s soaring vocals for a musical climax that he seems particular fond of. It certainly is effective; ‘What Kind of Woman’ shows the same kind of emotive flair but reigned in a little, preferring to articulate the drama carefully in vocal phrasing and pitching alone. Here and in the moody, powerful ‘Swear I Was There’ we get Adam’s passion, escaping from the relative monotone of ‘Too Real’ and the more mass palatable positivity of the title track.
Talent, musicianship, credibility and heart spill out of this man’s veins, uncontained by a particular sound, style or emotion. If there were ever pressure felt to follow in his father’s footsteps or at least compete artistically, Adam handles it with aplomb, making more than a passing reference while carving out his own seat in the stonework. ‘We Go Home’ is rich, deep and inexplicably heart-warming, tearing out collective memories and airing them to that same nylon-strung guitar of a few years ago. It’s just this time, he’s packing his own punch.
