Adam Cohen - Like A Man (2011)

Singer/songwriter and guitarist Adam Cohen gained plenty of practice
performing as a member of a number of rock groups in New York during the
early '90s. By the mid-'90s, he had moved to Los Angeles, and ended up
signing a solo contract with Columbia Records in 1997. One year later, he
released his debut album, a self-titled offering that carried 12
impressive adult contemporary tracks. It was quickly followed by the EP
"Tell Me Everything". Cohen was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1972.
The son of acclaimed songwriter Leonard Cohen, he spent his childhood
living all over the world, spending time in Canada, France, the United
States, and Greece. Early piano lessons didn't have as much of an
influence on him as his exceptional home life did, which exposed him to
not only his father's music and writing, but to all forms of art and music
brought in by family friends and acquaintances.

On his fourth solo recording, songwriter Adam Cohen, progeny of one of pop
music's greatest poets, Leonard Cohen, finally quits struggling against his
birthright and surrenders. And in doing so, he's come all the way over to
the side he seemed so determined to escape. Thank goodness. "Like A Man"
assembles ten songs about what else? Love. There's no mistaking the
singer's lineage: it's in his expressive baritone (his voice, though still
somewhat flat, is not gruff or harsh). The arrangements and production bear
his dad's influence: nylon-string guitars, upright bass, piano, subtle
strings, and harmony vocals by no less than Jennifer Warnes.

For those suspecting that Cohen is merely channeling and cashing in on his
dad's rep, that's their problem. He makes no secret of his father's
influence, but his way of writing songs is certainly his own. He uses fewer
metaphorical or metonymic devices; his approach is more halting, less
authoritative, but he possesses a keen eye for observation. Cohen is a
mature songwriter whose work has been featured on other artists' records,
but this is the first time his own voice so completely possesses his
material. The title track, with its damning observations and admissions
about the male gender, offers no excuses, its vulnerability evident.

Producer Patrick Leonard's lilting string arrangements and Warnes' hushed
backing vocals lend the song a quiet power. "Sweet Dominique" is as
poignant a love song seen through the rearview mirror of life as you're
likely to find. "What Other Guy" is from the same perspective, but without
the distance of time to lessen the ache. It's all the more devastating
because the protagonist knows virtually everything about his former,
still-longed-for love, including 'what you smell like when the night ends'.
Warnes' multi-tracked backing vocals on the chorus underscore the song's
poignancy and tenderness. "Like A Man" was a recording Cohen had to make;
it feels like he's coming to terms with exactly who he is. No, he's not as
profound as his dad, but who the hell is? Measure him up to other great
songwriters of his own generation - born between the late 60s and the
mid-70s - and he shines.