Adam Cohen
Like A Man

A small but fundamental premise: in this review, I will not talk about Leonard Cohen's son but only and exclusively about Adam Cohen, an extraordinary singer-songwriter who, in a world of appearances and images, manages to restore the song to its most noble and profound purpose: to speak to the heart and soul, to move, to create a connection with the listener that goes beyond the surface. In short, the singer-songwriter tradition, and Adam Cohen interprets it in a sentimental key; he sings of love, the most obvious, overexposed topos, the one that is thrown in your face with banality and superficiality by Emma Marrone and James Blunt, and therefore the most difficult to approach with the dignity it deserves.

His most recent album, this "Like A Man" dated 2011 is a warm bath after a long, tiring day, a cup of hot chocolate on a snowy morning, a candlelit dinner and soft velvet sheets. Ten songs and an incessant acoustic guitar work, a rhythmic base so light and discreet that it almost seems nonexistent, a few female backing vocals to add depth and color to the ensemble as per family tradition. "Like A Man" finds its strength in an elegantly perfect sobriety, without any discord, nothing that seems even vaguely out of place. A work of high musical craftsmanship, which as time goes by seems to be appreciated by fewer and fewer people, also because credible interpreters are increasingly rare. Adam Cohen adds a warm, reassuring, linear voice, the kind of voice that, with time and repeated listens, you learn to appreciate more because it knows how to be a perfect vehicle for emotion and not an intrusive prima donna. "Like A Man" takes the listener by the hand with the sublime sweetness of ballads like "Matchbox," "Sweet Dominique" and "Beautiful," the bittersweet nuances of "Out Of Bed," "Lie Alone" and "Overrated," the emotional surge of "What Other Guy," the crooner inflections of "Stranger."

"Like A Man" is a record for those moments when you don't feel like seeking entertainment and fun at all costs, when you feel the need to reflect, to look a bit inside yourself, and from a listening like this, you always emerge with a smile on your face; it is a noble, poetic album, a work made of sensations and feelings more than songs, "For Everyman," like the title of the old and beautiful Jackson Browne album.