Recent Songs

Leonard Cohen returned to a more open acoustic setting on Recent Songs after the crowded production of Death of a Ladies' Man. Co-produced with Henry Lewy, the record places his voice among strings, oud and other instruments that broaden the arrangements without hiding the words.

“The Guests” introduces that combination of formal grace and unease. “The Gypsy's Wife” carries a different kind of tension, while “Ballad of the Absent Mare” takes a longer narrative path. The varied settings give Cohen's measured delivery new colours to work against.