Old Ideas
Leonard Cohen
Columbia Records
Old Ideas recalls all too vividly the disappointment that was Leonard Cohen’s previous effort, 2004’s Dear Heather.
Soft strings and the low cooing of long-time collaborator Sharon Robinson open Cohen’s album.
I thought to myself, “How the mighty have fallen. How could the pre-eminent Canadian songwriter, a father figure for so many, be reduced to bland adult contemporary?”
It only took a few words delivered in Cohen’s gravelly tones to remind me to never, ever jump to conclusions.
Old Ideas is a return to form. Cohen sounds like a man at ease with his age and finally ready to take his seat at the head of the table as the elder statesman of the melancholy and misunderstood.
The tracks “Darkness,” “Come Healing,” and the opener “Going Home,” all speak the pain of an old man tired of dwelling on past mistakes, but at the same time not willing to live on past successes. As he explains, “I thought the past would last me, but the darkness got that too.”
However, that doesn’t mean abandoning the things that have made Cohen’s music so important for so long. Those things are timeless. The deeply personal, vaguely masochistic love songs are still as beautiful as ever.
“Show Me The Place,” the lead-single released a little over a month ago, is stirring in the same way as classics like “Suzanne” and the verses of “Hallelujah,” a mournful tune about being in love with someone broken and the sadness of not being able to help.
But that sadness is what binds them together, what makes the love so powerful, or as he intones with more eloquence on “Show Me The Place,” “There were chains, so I loved you like a slave.” His ability to express melancholy is without equal, but that much is common knowledge.
However, his talents as a melody-maker have always been underrated, and he proves this once again with “Different Sides.” This is a catchy tune that isn’t too far thematically from “Show Me the Place,” despite having a completely different tone. The two tracks work very well together and could have both been written about the same relationship, elegantly showing just how quickly the face of love can change.
It’s important to note this album isn’t for everyone. Old Ideas is a fantastic Cohen album, but at the end of the day, it’s still a Cohen album.
It’s called Old Ideas for a reason. Cohen makes no attempt to re-invent himself musically or to introduce more popular elements. It’s just him, his gravelly voice and the sparse music.
If you love him, you love him, and will absolutely love the album. If you don’t, you don’t, and Old Ideas won’t change that.
