Popular Problems

Leonard Cohen

Popular Problems

The legendary Canadian singer-songwriter releases his thirteenth studio album on the day after his 80th birthday

ADM rating[?]

8.2

Label
Columbia
UK Release date
22/09/2014
US Release date
23/09/2014
  1. 10.0 |   The Independent

    He knows how to keep the listener on their toes, purely through lyrical cunning
    Read Review

  2. 10.0 |   The Arts Desk

    This is profoundly rich music with a lack of adornment that allows for moments of great beauty and emotion
    Read Review

  3. 9.5 |   Paste Magazine

    To say that Popular Problems is a great album for a guy his age is to do it a disservice. It is precisely because Leonard Cohen is the age he is that Popular Problems is so good
    Read Review

  4. 9.0 |   Clash

    The great just gets greater
    Read Review

  5. 9.0 |   All Music

    His finest recording since 1995's The Future
    Read Review

  6. 9.0 |   Exclaim

    It's surprising, deeply moving and occasionally stunning
    Read Review

  7. 9.0 |   Uncut

    Cohen quietly rages against the world with his darkest record for decades. Print edition only

  8. 8.3 |   A.V. Club

    As usual, the freshest-sounding songs are those that tread the farthest from Cohen’s gypsy-folk roots, but here that’s most of them
    Read Review

  9. 8.0 |   NME

    As intimate, beautiful and witty as ever, there’s an impassioned life in Leonard that's missing from many artists a quarter of his age
    Read Review

  10. 8.0 |   The FT

    Voice crumbling, a noble ruin, he here resembles an antique bluesman, wittily eliding death and sex
    Read Review

  11. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Cohen is in vicious form
    Read Review

  12. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    A cynic might carp that it follows the same template of its predecessor, Old Ideas, but old ideas are often the best
    Read Review

  13. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    His voice is centre stage, stark, untreated and clear
    Read Review

  14. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Few artists have continued writing and recording so late in their lives, and certainly no one as poetically gifted as Cohen has
    Read Review

  15. 8.0 |   State

    Through Popular Problems, Leonard Cohen reminds us that beauty doesn’t exist in spite of an ending, but because of it
    Read Review

  16. 8.0 |   God Is In The TV

    If Popular Problems is to be his last work, he is going out with a superlative testament to his artistry. Still the embodiment of a magisterial melancholia, Leonard Cohen remains one of music’s living greats
    Read Review

  17. 8.0 |   Beardfood

    It's as close to old fashioned blues as 2014 will get, but it's more than sonic calm Cohen brings
    Read Review

  18. 8.0 |   Mojo

    On first listen, it's jolting to hear the familiar low growl in these musical settings. Print edition only

  19. 8.0 |   Q

    There is lots to love here. Print edition only

  20. 7.6 |   Pitchfork

    Like all of Cohen's albums, Popular Problems sounds slick but slightly off-kilter, like someone trying to imitate music they've read about but never actually heard
    Read Review

  21. 7.5 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Popular Problems is a revelation, a document of an artist continuing to produce engaging material into his eighth decade of life without sounding stale
    Read Review

  22. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    An album that listeners will return to, not just for the poetic depth we’ve come to expect from Mr. Cohen, but also for the sonic variety and virtuosity of his accompanists
    Read Review

  23. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    If it doesn’t quite hit the dizzy heights of his very best, it at least proves that the man who had such a way with words in his youth can still do the same as he heads into his ninth decade
    Read Review


blog comments powered by Disqus

Watch it

Roll over video for more options

Hear it

Preview & download it

Leonard Cohen: Popular Problems

  • Download full album for just £6.99
  • 1. Slow £0.99
  • 2. Almost Like the Blues £0.99
  • 3. Samson in New Orleans £0.99
  • 4. A Street £0.99
  • 5. Did I Ever Love You £0.99
  • 6. My Oh My £0.99
  • 7. Nevermind £0.99
  • 8. Born in Chains £0.99
  • 9. You Got Me Singing £0.99
  • Service provided by 7Digital

Latest Reviews

More reviews