Slow and steady wins the race for languid Len
HAvInG celebrated his 80th birthday l ast weekend, Leonard Cohen is far too l ong in t he t ooth to contemplate changing his languid approach now. One of pop’s most lugubrious operators, he begins his thirteenth studio album with a song called Slow — and plods serenely through the next eight numbers without ever threatening to get out of second gear.
But, while Laughing Len certainly starts as he means to go on, there is nothing depressing about Popular Problems. Forced to return to the stage to pay the bills in 2008, after a former manager (who has since been jailed) embezzled a large chunk of his retirement fund, an increasingly prolific Cohen is in the throes of a creative resurgence.
not only has he become happier — or, at least, more resigned to his destiny — as he turns into an octogenarian, but he has honed his weighty songwriting talent to such a degree that the nine tracks here are distinguished by their clarity and economy.
Considering that he spent five l ong years grappling with the original 80 verses of his elaborate signature tune, Hallelujah, that is some achievement.
Cohen is a master of the simple but evocative phrase that speaks volumes. And, while he sometimes goes for the obvious rhyme, his dry humour and hard-earned wisdom give Popular Problems a warm, compassionate glow.
The songs, all around the fourminute mark and enhanced by sweet f emale harmonies, are approachable and easy to listen to. The instrumental backing, arranged by producer Patrick Leonard, is graceful and restrained.
Slow — ‘I’m slowing down the tune / I never liked it fast’ — could easily have been performed with the jazzy bumptiousness of a big band, but it is rendered here as stripped-down blues, driven by Cohen’s throaty, half-spoken vocals.
There are songs that cast an eye over a world torn apart by terror and turmoil. But, instead of lecturing, Cohen goes for the smaller details.
A Street looks at romance inside a war-zone. Almost Like The Blues strikes a wryly personal note: ‘There’s torture and there’s killing — and there’s all my bad reviews’. Amid the pandemonium — and there is conflict here between citizens, clans, friends and lovers — the pop veteran can’t help himself from looking on the bright side. Did I Ever Love You, its middling tempo positively pell-mell in comparison with the funereal pace of the other tracks, is a country love song underpinned by finger-picked guitars and fiddle.
And, in finishing with the defiant You Got Me Singing, the singer even makes a passing reference to his biggest hit, a track that made the UK charts in three separate incarnations (by Cohen, Jeff Buckley and X Factor winner Alexandra Burke) in 2008: ‘You got me singing even though it all went wrong / You got me singing that Hallelujah song’.
Leonard Cohen is still living his life in the slow lane. But, with this well-judged return, he is discreetly making up for lost time, too.