Cohen as fresh as before

"I'd love to speak with Leonard / He's a sportsman and a shepherd / He's a lazy bastard living in a suit."

Leonard Cohen has always had a sense of humor.

In October of 2009, I was 19 and spending part of fall break in Cleveland. Cohen, then 73, would be performing in the gray, looming city. My cousin, a fellow teen and Ohio native, and I shared the honor of being the youngest audience members to watch "Canada's Bob Dylan."

Unlike Dylan, Cohen is not prolific. Released Jan. 31, "Old Ideas" is his first release since 2004's "Dear Heather." Over the course of his 40-plus-year career, his 11 studio albums have been released with at least five years in between. And it's worth it.

Both Cohen and Dylan are living legends. Both have made disastrous mistakes in the past, but in the battle of quality versus quantity, Cohen wins. It is hard to not make mistakes over such long careers, yet Cohen never strayed far from his persona as a suit-wearing authoritarian on God, love and death, and has perfected his art as a writer.

"Old Ideas" exemplifies this notion. Now 77, this could be Cohen's last album, and he knows it. He holds nothing back.

Aptly titled, "Old Ideas" allows Cohen to rehash past relationships and reflect with wiser eyes. Cohen employs the old aesthetics that worked for him on his commercially successful records, like the siren backup singers and acoustic instrumentals. The result sounds like an album recorded in a room large enough for his words to echo to a reverent audience.

Cohen's aesthetic works let his lyrical talent shine. Although his voice has lost the boyish reediness of his youth, his songwriting still smirks at the listener in the same way his early work did. He explores his old territory with a spoken-word approach to singing in a voice too gravelly and ominous-sounding to question his authority. Still, "Crazy to Love You" could have come off of one of his first albums.

His reflections on the afterworld and love feel more vital than ever with his age, and, despite Cohen's prominence and critical success, he has managed to sound wise without arrogance. While Dylan crafted a younger persona, Cohen's old soul, self-effacing character has only made more sense with age. He has honed his talent to perfection.

"Old Ideas" is the most perfect album Cohen could possibly produce at this point in his life and career.

Along with Dylan, Nick Cave and Tom Waits, Cohen is one of the poet laureates of songwriting and my personal favorite of the four. In Cleveland, he looked fragile but had perfect posture. He skipped on and off stage, graciously thanked his band and backing vocalists, and bowed like the archetype of a gentleman at the end of his set. I bawled. I was grateful to see a living legend live, and, well, full of life.

Rating: five Old Testament references out of five. If "Old Ideas" becomes Cohen's last record, fans will be more than satisfied with it.

Note: Younger music fans interested in exploring Cohen's work should look at Vimeo's "Old Ideas with New Friends." The video project showcases covers of Cohen's work by younger artists like Deerhunter's Bradford Cox and new alt-pop darlings Cults.