Leonard Cohen- You Want It Darker (2016)

Leonard Cohen- You Want It Darker (2016)

By: Ghost Writer

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about my first CD, a Leonard Cohen used copy of one of his greatest hits compilations, Cohen became really known among my friends thanks to that used CD, many people had the chance to listen for the first time to Cohen thanks to that copy, Cohen, a legendary Canadian poet and songwriter second perhaps in literary talent only to Bob Dylan within the rock music circle, a big influence in people like Nick Cave, Iggy Pop and ex Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan, Cohen has enjoyed a quite successful career, he has been able to reinvent himself a couple of times in a very successful way, from his early folk roots, into master of dark crooning, a problem with one of his accountants made him lose a lot of money, which thankfully made Cohen keep working despite prior success, but money comes and goes too easy, and need may keep Cohen making records and touring until the last day of his life. 

In press conferences, recently, Cohen has expressed that he is ready to stop touring and ready to die, and although I guess that was a title of a Stooges recent recording, the dark master is playing again one of his game cards, the time is just right for Cohen type of gloomy kinky crooning, considering issues like Trump, Brexit, Populism, the Haiti disaster and the Colombian peace talks are signs of the hard times humanity is facing, and precisely that darkness, is a territory Cohen knows too well, no surprise his newest recording is named You Want It Darker, as this old grey fox perfectly understands that these are his times and perhaps one of his last chances to make one last big splash on pop music.

These are times of gloom and doom, and the power in the lyrics of Cohen acquires more relevance than ever with this somber context, he is still the dark Canadian poet to lead us through darkness, the title track is just perfect with its infectious bass line, solemn keyboards and the impeccable mind blowing eerie chorus, for those who think that the world is in a very bad shape, Surprise! it could get eleven worse, and Cohen knows, so, You Want It Darker? 

Treaty is the kind of tender dark ballad Cohen is so good at composing and performing, the kind of stuff that would make guys like Iggy Pop, David Bowie or Nick Cave jealous, Cohen goes thru the song like the song seasoned veteran he is, like what he truly is, the best poet in rock music since Bob Dylan, in this beautiful waltzing piece, On the Level is a more upbeat piece with gospel vocals, another favorite territory for Cohen to prowl, and he does it in a brilliant way, the small piano motif fits just right, and Cohen damned prophet voice does the job the way no one else could, for some reason, Leaving the Table reminds me of the great Righteous Brothers, a really emotionally draining trip, with Cohen handling it to near perfection. 

You Want It Darker is kind of a short record, not too long, or at least doesn’t feels too long, one ends up feeling there should have been more songs and more Cohen on it, but I guess that was exactly Cohen's intention from the beginning, if this is the end, he is going away like a winner, with a big, short noisy bang, as there is no dull or wasted moment on this record, is less ambitious at times, but more focused than anything Cohen has done in recent years, with a mood that is darker than ever and fits the times in a scarily perfect way.

Yes, it coulds get darker...