The great man’s 14th studio album, and his third (!) of the 2010s, is entitled You Want It Darker, and as of today, it has a release date: it’s out on October 21.
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Recorded with backing from Montreal’s Cantor Gideon Zelermyer and the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue Choir, the track is a moody, atmospheric chant of a song that features Cohen with his dark yet charismatic whispers. Listen to Cohen in all his raspy voiced glory below.
Cohen – whose best-known song, the oft-covered “Hallelujah”, explored God and the meaning of music – returns to biblical heritage on the title track of “You Want It Darker”.
Anyone who caught wind of the heartbreaking news trending in early August- about the letter Cohen penned to Marianne Ihlen on her on her deathbed- will notice a similar morbid streak to this new release. Rolling Stone points out that Cohen hasn’t performed in public since 2013.
Opening with a Gregorian chant of an intro that echoes throughout, “You Want It Darker” is lovely and sinister, featuring Cohen’s signature, gravelly vocals over a simple mix of organ and drum. You can see the tracklist and read descriptions for each song on Cohen’s website.
A new tracklist for the album has also been shared, one that describes each song in more detail and includes some of the lyrics from each song. An unflinching exploration of the religious mind.
“They’re lining up the prisoners / The guards are taking aim / I struggled with some demons / They were middle-class and tame / Didn’t know I had permission to murder and to maim”, he sings. A confession of the selfishness of love and the hope of a correction. What I hear are multiple takes on just this one track and a few edits within a verse.
A slow, relentless, and somehow joyous ballad of letting it all go by. “I’m ready, my Lord”, he huskily intones, later adding, “If you are the dealer, let me out of the game”.
A seeker hits the road and finds the joys of solitude.
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A song of courage as the heart moves into the darkness.
