Leonard Cohen
Popular Problems

LA RECENSIONE

Thirteenth studio album of the quintessential Singer-songwriter, Popular Problems is also the only album by the Canadian artist missing in this venue.
The album was released two days after he turned 80, on November 23, 2014. It arrived just two years after the previous Old Ideas, whereas for the earlier album, one had to go back eight more years.
Leonard has released few works, but they are all almost perfect. The attention to the right word, the warm voice of an American crooner rendered him unmistakable. The right arrangements, like the violin in this, do the rest.
The "popular problems" Cohen sings about are the usual ones: love, politics, religion. And he does it with the composure of a mature man who doesn't need to rush.
Indeed, the first song is a praise of slowness, "Slow," in which the singer-songwriter states that it is in his blood. The second song is "Almost like the blues," dedicated to the violence in the world, a violence from which one would like to turn away. Then comes the excellent "Samson in New Orleans," a bitter political disillusionment sung divinely.
"A street," meaning the street where one hides when drunk, is an idea even 13 years old, as it was the attacks on the Twin Towers that gave the inspiration. The piece is performed in a recitative tone, with the instrumentation in the background.
"Did I ever love you" is a beautiful love song, with violin and female voice. A monologue song of great emotional impact. Like love, but this time tinged with soul, is the following "My oh my."
With "Nevermind" the political theme returns: it sings about a lost war and a signed treaty, but "never mind," as the title suggests.
But if love and politics are the main themes, at the end there are two songs about religion and destiny. This is Leonard Cohen's third "popular problem."
The treatment of the topic is entrusted to a piece the author has written and rewritten, "Born in chains." The style is that of a liturgical gospel where his theological position is updated. But there is also the conclusive "You got me singing" to reiterate the concept, citing, for the umpteenth time, his famous anthem Hallelujah.
The album was written in partnership with Patrick Leonard, who on one hand encourages Leonard to work faster, but on the other, from a sound and musical perspective, more could have been done, and it is precisely on this point that the album stops at four stars.