Today Leonard Cohen turned 82. Happy birthday Len! To mark the occasion Cohen has released ‘You Want It Darker’, the first new material from his forthcoming album, and bloody hell it is good. He’s back on the snouts on the artwork, the electronics have returned, the rhythm is sexy as all hell, there are terrific choral backing vocals, and his voice sounds like a pig carcass being dragged across gravel. The lyrics are classic Cohen but far from tiring, even as he addresses his mortality ("I’m ready my Lord") with defiance "If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame" and wit "I struggled with some demons / they were middle class and tame".
LISTEN: New Leonard Cohen!
First track emerges on singer's birthday
