Leonard Cohen
The Future (Columbia) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) 1/2
The grand old man of rock poetry returns in ”The Future,” which picks up where 1988`s ”I`m Your Man” left off-only an octave lower. Cohen, 58, offers dour post-election observations about the new world disorder in the apocalyptic title song (”I`ve seen the future, brother: it is murder”) and the deceptively rosy ”Democracy” (”I`m sentimental, if you know what I mean: I love the country but can`t stand the scene”), then moves back into the more familiar arena of melancholy romanticism in ”Waiting for the Miracle” and ”Light as the Breeze.” Irving Berlin`s ”Always” gets a funky turn; ”Closing Time” is a Celtic hoedown of woozy imagery; and actress Rebecca De Mornay shares a production credit on ”Anthem.” The Cohen cult will rejoice in ”The Future,” even as their hero despairs.
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