Released: 2014

Genres: Singer-Songwriter, Folk, Blues

The Musiquarium’s Popular Problems Review Score: 7.5 out of 10

After a fantastic return with 2012’s Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen is back with another album of strong material. Compared to the jazzy, rustic folk of its predecessor, Popular Problems‘ sound is more indebted to the blues.

The bluesy Slow is a solid opener that grabs your attention. A Street is another blues track with swagger and strut. Almost Like the Blues is built on a groovy bass riff, sounding a bit like a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds track, which makes sense considering Cohen is one of Cave’s biggest (if not THE biggest) influences on his own music.

Nevermind is a somewhat funky number with electric piano and Arabic vocals. Did I Ever Love You and My Oh My recall the southern-twang that was present on Old Ideas. The gospel Born in Chains is accented by crying organs. Cohen references himself with “the Hallelujah song” in the closer, You Got Me Singing.

At 80 years old, Popular Problems proves that age has no bearing on the quality of Leonard Cohen’s music, with this being the second album in a renaissance of new material for the Canadian poet.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Leonard Cohen on Discogs.

Back to the 2014 Album Guide or the Leonard Cohen Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard