„There is, however, a more appealing balance here between acoustic instrumentation (Cohen even returns to plucking the guitar strings at times) and what might be uncharitably termed his bizarre budget Bontempi sound, whereby each song seems to compete for the cheesiest drum machine sound or the tackiest, most dated synthesiser patches. Only an artist completely confident in his own aesthetic can get away with this – Cohen knows the impact of the contrast between his articulate, profound and haunting words and the occasional tackiness of his music is eerily powerful. For once, though, it’s sometimes hard here to discern the source of some of the sounds. Is the aching string line on Show Me The Place synthesised or not? Are the brushed drums on Amen performed or programmed? Either way, they serve as perfectly unobtrusive accompaniments …“ (source: OMH review, excerpt)
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„I’m tired of choosing desire,
I’ve been saved by a blessed fatigue,
The gates of commitment unwired,
And nobody trying to leave.“
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The voice so deep, „a thousand kisses deep“, to say it with the words of one of his songs. After listening to the album three times in a row, you realize there is no standout track, no future evergreen (the word evergreen should be banned anyway: too much nostalgia even takes the good part of darkness away). The longest track, „Amen“, is a hymn, a prayer that agnostics and atheists might fall in love with while enjoying the feel of ancient banjo, sepia-coloured violin and simple cornet. On „Old Ideas“ the man with the golden voice (good old joke!) doesn’t act like a preacher at all, and every verse that could seem to send a message carved in stone and song is quickly counterbalanced by dark humour, self-irony and stoicism. There are bluesy moments, slow-motion-gospel – and jazz-vibes. The gravity comes from the voice, and how it nearly creates new definitions of close miking and sub-bass, with the result of warm intimacy. And then there are all the female voices of older and newer times (from Jennifer Warnes to the Webb Sisters) doing the jobs of a second voice, a background, and a choir. An old Cohen tradition: but remember, on the first studio album of his demon-chasing life, the producer added these kind of angelic colours against the will of the singer to soften the scenery. An old trick that still works. It is the sincerity of the artist that allows him to stick totally to old ideas without any suspect he might have lost it. He’s just slowing down, down, down – with a clear eye for exit signs and open places: “Sometimes I’d head for the highway/ I’m old and the mirrors don’t lie/ But crazy has places to hide in/ Deeper than saying goodbye,” he sings/speaks on „Crazy To Love You“, accompanied by an acoustic guitar only. So, finally, closing time, silence, a last dying tone? No, that would be too pretentious. It’s better to leave the scene with a beat, a rhythmic soul groove – and asking for a kiss. Amen.
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First Listen: Leonard Cohen – „Old Ideas“ (npr.music)
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