Old Ideas
On *Old Ideas*, his 12th studio album, the iconic singer/songwriter/poet continues his exploration of the spiritual, the sensual, and the cycle of life over the course of 10 songs. His unexcitable, half-spoken baritone is a calming, lyrical guide, with vocalists Dana Glover and The Webb Sisters and longtime collaborators Jennifer Warnes and Sharon Robinson providing tonal contrasts. With dual piano and organ accompaniment, “Show Me the Place” has the solemn levity of a modern hymn. The bluesy “Darkness” and the cabaret-friendly “Different Sides” showcase Cohen’s noirish and uptempo sides. “Banjo\" has a rural North Americana arrangement, appropriately enough, with an unexpected, Dixieland-like clarinet-and-trumpet interlude.
Leonard Cohen's 12th studio LP is a spare, low-key album rooted in blues and gospel-- maybe the closest thing he's made to "folk" music since the early 1970s.
Anyone who was hoping that Old Ideas, the long awaited new studio album from Leonard Cohen would reveal a poet who finally realized that the glass might be half full after all, will be sorely disappointed with these ten new songs. The rest of us who harbor no such expectations or illusions are in for a treat as the Montreal singer's newest collection is - hands down - his best studio album since I'm Your Man came out in 1988.
Leonard Cohen is back, older and even wiser, with an album that's typically dark and twinkling, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong>
There’s a sense throughout Old Ideas of Leonard Cohen facing a void and welcoming its emptiness.
<p>Humour and sincerity sit side by side on another fine album from Leonard Cohen, writes <strong>Maddy Costa </strong></p>
Neil McCormick reviews Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen's first new album of original songs in seven years.
Aged 77, the master wordsmith returns with customary grace, humour and irreverence. CD review by Graeme Thomson