Originally published in Hot Press in October 2016:

The 14th studio album from Montreal’s master of morbidity comes amid reports of his imminent demise. (He told the audience at a launch party in LA that he was, quote, “ready to die” but has since said he intends to “live forever.”) While Leonard Cohen has long embraced his reputation as the poet laureate of existential despair, there are so many musings on mortality here that you have to wonder if he really means it this time. In fairness, he’s 82 and hasn’t performed live since 2013, but insists he has no serious illnesses apart from the ravages of age.

Produced by his son Adam Cohen, You Want It Darker is also replete with religious themes and biblical imagery, the eight songs clocking in at just over 35 minutes. The first few notes are certainly foreboding. Over a heavenly choir and pounding bass-line, in that deep rich baritone voice he croons, “I’m out of the game/ I’m broken and lame/ I’m ready my lord.” On ‘Treaty’, he admits: “I’m angry and I’m tired all the time.” And on ‘Leaving The Table’ – twang-core guitar and a classic 1950s doo-wop melody notwithstanding – he revisits the theme: “Little by little we’re cutting the cord.”

It’s not all doom and gloom however, and the gorgeously seductive ‘If I Didn’t Have Your Love’ is a jazzy torch song that you could imagine an artist like Norah Jones singing. ‘On The Level’, too, has a classic Cohen sound with a melody that is crying out for a cover version.

With music written largely by collaborator Patrick Leonard, the arrangements veer from sweeping orchestration (‘Treaty’), to a light rock rhythm section with soulful backing (‘On The Level’). Elsewhere, with Klezmer fiddle and a haunting Eastern European texture, ‘Travelling Light’ is more unsettling, as he teases with wordplay: “I guess I’m just someone who has given up/ goodnight, goodnight my fallen star.” The final track, ‘Steer Your Way’, blends a country-ish rhythm with classical touches and an apocalyptic lyric: “Steer your way through the ruins of the altar and the mall/ Steer your way through the fables of creation and the fall.”

Hugely enjoyable and utterly compelling – one of his best.

Leonard Cohen passed away on November 7, 2016, two weeks after this interview was published.

 Reflections from friends and collaborators...

Suzanne Vega:

“‘We are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon…' That was him saying: ‘Okay, I’m ready for this.’ As he did, almost in those exact same words, on You Want It Darker. His entire career this past 10 years or so was Leonard celebrating his work and a life that he knew was drawing to a close. There’s some solace to be taken from the fact that like David Bowie, who we also lost this year, Leonard was around to witness the enthusiasm with which his last record was greeted by everybody.”

Sharon Robinson:

“I heard the whole of You Want It Darker for the first time in August at Leonard’s house. I was visiting him before my tour of Europe. He played it for me and I was, of course, blown away. It’s really beautiful. It was extremely important for both of them that [his son] Adam produced the record. To finally connect around Leonard’s work – and it was something that had been in the making for many years – left both of them very fulfilled.

“The feeling that it was a ‘goodbye’ was rather unavoidable. It would have been difficult to imagine him doing another record, although he was talking about other work he was starting on. ‘Retirement’ was not a word that featured in Leonard’s dictionary!"

The Webb Sisters' Charley:

"I heard it as a fan and was very interested in Len’s voice being presented in a slightly different fashion. A lot of people are talking about it being ‘a last will and testament’, but there was always spiritual commentary in his songs. Perhaps on longer listening, I’ll reflect on it in a different way. We’re feeling very sad, but at the same time happy that we got to know and spend time with such a wonderful man.”

Revisit You Want It Darker below: