On Friday morning, Columbia Records announced that it will be releasing a brand new Leonard Cohen album — the first since the Canadian icon’s death in 2016.
The record, Thanks for the Dance (2019), was produced by the singer’s son, Adam Cohen, and was revealed alongside its first single, The Goal.
The one minute, 30-second acoustic track serves as an intimate introduction to the forthcoming album. Similar to many of Leonard Cohen’s previous musical works, his lyrics and croon serve more like a poem than a song.
Because only recordings of his father’s voice were left for the younger Cohen, Adam enlisted a number of musicians to help him complete the commemorative album, including Beck, Damien Rice, Feist and band members from Arcade Fire and The National.
“In composing and arranging the music for his words, we chose his most characteristic musical signatures, in this way keeping him with us,” Adam Cohen, 46, said in a press release.
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“What moves me most about the album is the startled response of those who have heard it. ‘Leonard lives!’ they say, one after the other.”
The statement later confirmed that Thanks for the Dance would not just be a compilation album or a collection of B-sides and outtakes, but an “unexpected harvest of new songs”.
It described them as “exciting and vital” and ultimately “a continuation of the master’s final work.”
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“Leonard Cohen has robbed death of the last word,” concluded the release.
The Goal is now available through all major streaming platforms.
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Thanks for the Dance will be released on Nov. 22. The album is now available for pre-orders.
Additional updates and information can be found through the official Leonard Cohen website.
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