Pitchfork: Leonard Cohen Readies 11th Album

Leonard Cohen Readies 11th Album
Joins Veronica, J.D. in plot to take down the new breed

I'm not a betting man. This is partially because I don't have very much money; I'm lazy, and I'm not very good at resisting impulses. But if you asked me off the record, I'd wager Leonard Cohen to be straight-up immortal. Granted, there might not be a whole lot of biological evidence suggesting the man holds the silver key to life eternal-- at least not in the traditional sense of the term "evidence"-- but the songs Cohen has written possess a nearly singular quality: Most of them are impervious to the very possibility of a natural demise.

It is my own subjective assessment that the lasting power of Leonard Cohen's output can be attributed to two intrinsic elements: Cohen's true calling as a man of the pen, and the paradoxical ability of his words to be visually precise/visually evocative while remaining semantically applicable/semantically evocative in innumerable situations of a more individual context. Perhaps this suggests not merely timelessness, but also placelessness. For all their detail, all their setting, all their visual singularity, Cohen's songs contain a human flexibility that enables them to be related into our own individual contexts. For this, his music may never die.

The man will turn 70 years of age in just a couple of months, but he remains verbally acute and of persistent resolve. On September 28th, one week after his birthday, Columbia Records will release his 11th studio album, entitled Dear Heather. The record will contain 12 original tracks and a live rendition of a Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart song, "Tennessee Waltz". Tracklist:

01 Go No More A-Roving
02 Because Of
03 The Letters
04 Undertow
05 Morning Glory
06 On That Day
07 Villanelle for Our Time
08 There for You
09 Dear Heather
10 Nightingale
11 To a Teacher
12 The Faith
13 Tennessee Waltz

Curiously, on August 31st, Rhino Records will release the compilation Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen: Democracy, featuring a number of pre-existing renditions of Cohen material along with three recently recorded covers. Fucking Judy Collins rocks my ass! Also: Cohen has been reported to be writing a new collection of poetry entitled Book of Longing, although there is presently no release date or other concrete information. I guess those of you that care will figure it out.