Yea, Cohen’s 73 years old.  Yea, he just lost about $5 million due to the shady business dealings of his former manager.

He also just saw his signature tune “Hallelujah” resurge in popularity after being featured on American Idol, rocked Coachella this past February, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame just last year.

Putting an exclamation point on this recent mini-comeback, Cohen has released “Live in London”, recorded last year on July 17th in the middle of his first tour in 15 years.  The audience’s enthusiasm is palpable as they hang on Cohen’s every utterance and remain stone silent throughout the crisply executed songs, dutifully applauding as Cohen repeatedly introduces the varied members of his band throughout the course of the evening.  The feeling of mutual appreciation adds to the impact of the record lends it a feeling of a career milestone for Cohen.

Cohen’s superb backing band includes Bob Metzger providing polished lead guitar work, Javier Mas adding flourish while juggling the banduria, laud, archilaud, and 12-string, and the soothing background vocals of Charley and Hattie Webb, led by Cohen’s sometime songwriting collaborator Sharon Robinson.  The assembled musicians are precise and move through their paces subtly.  Save for some shining moments of virtuosity, the band spends much of its time deftly setting mood and allowing Cohen’s outsized bass voice to lead the emotional charge.

And time has, for the most part, been kind to Cohen’s famous voice.  Songs like “First We Take Manhattan” may have lost some of their menacing bite, but in turn softer selections like “Anthem”, “Bird on a Wire”, or “Suzanne” enjoy an added authenticity and time worn softness.  The hackneyed “like a fine wine” analogy suits Cohen well.

And then there’s “Hallelujah”.  I can’t think of another artist with a canon-defining song that has actually improved with age, and that is precisely what has happened here.  Maybe it’s the combination of advancing age, Cohen’s personal history of romantic upheaval and heartbreak, and the song’s religious overtones.  Whatever it is, the song’s power grows as Cohen’s voice recedes.  The version here is a little jaunty for my taste at first, but when Cohen digs in for the chorus the song takes off.

The songs are interspersed with Cohen’s readings of his poems, often used to introduce the music.  A highlight is “Recitation w/ N.L.”, Cohen’s poignant reading for a lover from another time.  The drama is thick, and Cohen’s voice seems more expressive here than anywhere else in the record, when it is trying to do the least.

Cohen introduces “Tower of Song” with a story about him having a drink with his 97-year-old teacher who toasted him by saying “Excuse me for not dying”. Cohen relates the story to his London audience and declares “I kind of feel the same way.”  Indeed, Cohen spends much of the evening sounding like someone trying to say goodbye without actually uttering the word.  If that is indeed the case, it would be hard to come up with a classier, more appreciative coda than “Live in London.”  If you are a Leonard Cohen fan this record is an obvious must.  If you, like too many others, know Cohen as the old guy who sang that Jeff Buckley song, do yourself a favor and use this album as an introduction to this mysterious and engrossing artist.