Leonard Cohen gets darker

In a recent interview with New Yorker magazine, bohemian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen stated that he was ready to die, that his health was shot and that he didn’t have much time left. His latest album, You Want it Darker reflects that mindset and is a somber look at the thoughts of a man who has seen and done it all, who is ready to face mortality.

The album is full of heartbreaking odes to life and love. Cohen has a long-reaching memory and nothing escapes his recollections. In the title track he rasps, “If thine is the glory, mine must be the shame/ you want it darker/ we kill the flame/ I’m ready, my lord.” His voice sounds withered and hurt, reminiscent of how Johnny Cash sounded on his final albums. In “Treaty” he laments the loss of his sweetheart, crooning, “I’m so sorry for that ghost I made you be/ only one of us was real and it was me.”

Other highlights include the somber “Leaving the Table,” which features a dreamlike and hypnotic guitar solo, the bluesy “On the Level,” which features him facing off with faith and fate, and “Traveling Light,” which features one of Cohen’s trademark sad waltzes.

You Want it Darker sounds like the last confessions of a dying man. All of Cohen’s creativity and soul poured onto these nine tracks. If this is indeed Cohen’s last album, then he goes out on a high note.

• Record: You Want it Darker
• Artist: Leonard Cohen
• Label: Columbia
• Songs: (1) You Want it Darker (2) Treaty (3) On the Level (4) Leaving the Table (5) If I Didn't Have Your Love (6) Traveling Light (7) It Seemed the Better Way (8) Steer Your Way (9) String Reprise/Treaty