Adam Cohen, the son of the legendary Leonard Cohen, quit the music business five years ago, but has now returned, ready to honour his last name. His new album, Like A Man, is a collection of 10 intimate songs often recalling the late-60s and 70s recordings of his father, driven by lyrics and a Cohenesque romance.
Since releasing three major label albums — 1998 self-titled debut; 2004’s French-language Mélancolista and his band, Low Millions’ Ex-Girlfriends — Adam has attempted to downplay his lineage and deflect questions about his famous dad.
“I was doing everything I could to make music that had little resemblance to my father’s; the comparisons were already ever present, I didn’t want to further invite those comparisons by living in his aesthetic world, especially when I was busy trying to create my own,” Adam explains. “Musically speaking, I was performing some kind of contortion act to not be seen purely as my father’s son.”
But his perspective has since changed. Besides, to have the poetic skill that Adam shows on Like A Man is not something that can be passed down through DNA; it is an intelligence, an insight and sensitivity that comes from within, no matter one’s parentage. Songs such as “Out of Bed,” “Like A Man,” “Beautiful” and “What Other Guy” are filled with beautiful, romantic sentiments, superlatives and metaphors to make any woman swoon.
