Leonard Cohen, whose meditative hymns have made him one of his generation’s most influential artists, has recorded a new album at 81 for release this fall, his label said.
Columbia Records said that the album will be called “You Want It Darker,” which is also the title of the opening track. It said that the new album, as the title suggests, was “haunting” in sound and in line with classic work by Cohen.
The label did not reveal a release date, indicating it would come out this year and after Cohen turns 82 on September 21.
The Canadian singer and poet last released an album in 2014, “Popular Problems,” a collection of somber, reflective tracks that delved into his favorite topics of lost love and the quest for spiritual meaning.
Cohen had gone into retirement in the 1990s, retreating to a monastery outside Los Angeles. He has acknowledged that his initial motivation for returning to music in the early 2000s was financial as his longtime accountant had stolen much of his savings.
