ALBUM REVIEW: Leonard Cohen – ‘Popular Problems’

Thirteen, unlucky for some. Not Cohen though!

They say that you get wiser with age. In Leonard Cohen’s case, this is undoubtedly true – though his vocals seem to get ever deeper with each album. Like a fine aged whiskey, the eighty year old has poured over themes of religion, sex and death in his latest effort Popular Problems and, after breaking his seven year silence with Old Ideas in 2012, he is showing no signs of stopping – producing his thirteenth album just two years later.

“I always liked it slow/ Slow is in my blood,” claims Cohen in the opener to the album. The creeping bass line and Wurlitzer add a sense of sleaziness, mirroring his rather open lyrics about how he prefers his lovemaking. Slow… obviously. Glossy backing vocals lift the moodiness of the song adding to Cohen’s already present swagger.

Cohen immediately changes direction giving his second track, ‘Almost Like The Blues’, a dramatic narrative. His singing, like a confession, is reduced to a hoarse whisper and simple percussion and piano allow you to really focus on the poetic rhythm and his powerful lyrics.

Having a musical career span of over fifty years, Cohen has still managed to produce a heartfelt collection of songs that show his wry sense of age and experience. Thirteen albums down the line and there is still something new; though having his producer and keyboardist, Patrick Leonard, co-write nine out of ten songs on the album, might be the reason he has strayed from his gypsy-folk roots.

Cohen’s use of brass, keyboards and female backing singers are a good example of the changes introduced by Leonard, giving Popular Problems an air of jazzy sophistication. He sings the most on ‘Samson In New Orleans’ – wounded vocals crooning softly over twinkling piano. “He wears a bloody crown/was our prayer so damn unworthy that the Son rejected it”: his references to religion throughout the album are plentiful, though not in a preaching sense.

The Wurlitzer makes a second appearance in ‘The Street’ – “I cried for you this morning and I’ll cry for you again but I’m not in charge of sorrow so please don’t ask me when”. Though he narrates more than he sings, he is still lyrically graceful.

There is a country twist in ‘Did I Ever Love You?’ as violin and piano change the previously sorrowful genre, lifting it with upbeat strumming and percussion: “Did I ever love you, does it really matter/ did I ever fight you, you don’t need to answer”.

The hint of country continues in ‘My Oh My’, with the twang of guitar before each chorus; Cohen mixes Country, Jazz and Gospel creating quite a random spectrum of genres that work surprisingly well together. ‘Born In Chains’, the only song fully written by Cohen, rounds off the album with hymnal-like melodies and vocals. Before you know it, Popular Problems – being undeniably short – reaches the end. Nonetheless, with a back catalogue as full as Cohen’s, he could release anything and still receive a warm response. He is the ultimate veteran of music after all.

 

Natasha Moran

@natashamoran

Tash Moran

Tash Moran

Leicester based writer and photographer