Beloved Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s 80th birthday will also herald the release of Cohen’s latest album, Popular Problems.
Last week, at Leonard Cohen Event 2014, the fans of the iconic singer-songwriter convened in Dublin to hear some exciting news. The singer has announced that Popular Problems would be out by the end of September, just after his birthday. This latest studio album consists of entirely new songs that “Leonard has worked hard on,” according to Jarkko Arjatsalo, who runs a Cohen fan website. He is also a close associate of Cohen’s, and acts as a go-between for the singer and his fans.
While Cohen himself has not confirmed the release of this new studio album, Arjatsalo claims the information was relayed to him “directly from Leonard.” Rock biographer Sylvie Simmons, who wrote a biography on Cohen (I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen) last year, posted on her Twitter: “A new Leonard Cohen studio album – yep, as good as done and due the last week of September, just after his 80th birthday. Amazing!” All in all, despite anything from Cohen’s mouth, the word is out. Popular Problems is ready to hit stores right after Cohen hits the big eight-zero.
Given that Cohen is, actually, eighty years old, there have been no tour plans scheduled. The studio album will have some songs that didn’t make it onto Cohen’s 2012 album, Old Ideas, as well as songs written in the two years since. Old Ideas topped the charts in eleven countries, and Popular Problems certainly stands to do the same. There has been no official release date, but apparently Amazon France has it out September 22. Here’s looking forward to another Cohen hit!
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