A few tracks into this tribute to the great Canadian singer, songwriter and poet, Loren Kate introduces her cover of ‘Chelsea Hotel #2’ with the familiar story that Leonard Cohen expressed regret, many years later, over his indiscretion at ever having named the subject of its intimate and explicitly described encounter. She also comments that Cohen once “said his greatest passions were sex and spirituality” — and these are certainly the elements highlighted most evocatively in this set.
Beginning with ‘Suzanne’ — “the song that brought Leonard Cohen to all our attention,” she says — it is predominantly a selection of the darkly romantic, wry and melancholy, deeply introspective work from his early folk albums. Kate’s stunning vocals and largely faithful yet fresh arrangements work particularly well with the acoustic minimalism of these songs, too. Backed with deft restraint and occasionally textured flourish by Chris Parkinson on guitar and Dylan Paul on upright bass, Kate’s voice is by turns rich and ethereal; husky and resonant.
The first Cohen song Kate ever heard, she tells us, was ‘Famous Blue Raincoat,’ which perhaps helps explain the depth and confidence of her standout rendition. Wrapped around the weighty, emotionally layered lyrics of this epistolary rumination, Kate’s voice affectingly alternates between an almost whispered hush and the soaring, sustained notes of its lamenting chorus. The jauntier, lilting ‘Lady Midnight’ was another highlight — lesser known perhaps in Cohen’s back catalogue but filled with playful reflection on aging, love and the creative process itself. Likewise — and despite warning her audience to “start with really low expectations” for Cohen’s most famous, prayer-like standard, of which “everyone has their own favourite version” — Kate brought a performance of ‘Hallelujah’ that was powerful; slow and meditative, but not quite so desperately mournful as Jeff Buckley’s pivotal interpretation.
The one thing missing, perhaps, was an emphasis on Cohen’s complex but always commanding social critique. It would have been timely, for example, to link Cohen’s 1992 ‘Anthem’ — which calls its listener to “ring the bells that still can ring” — with that well of anger, uncertainty, or fear many feel about the current state of our world. Kate’s vocal arrangement here, however, seemed to deemphasise the song’s righteous declaration that “the killers in high places [are] going to hear from me” while a skipped verse included Cohen’s description of a world in which “the widowhood of every government” has arrived in signs “for all to see.”
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That aside, however, this was a beautiful and, clearly, audience-pleasing recitation of Cohen favourites. Singalongs were rife throughout — with Kate effectively turning a few forgotten lyrics into further encouragement for crowd participation — while the penultimate inclusion of ‘Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye’ evoked a particularly appreciative response. The encore produced an excellent, funky, spoken-jazz delivery of Cohen’s already rousing ‘Tower of Song’ that should be considered a decisive success. Although the ironic humour of that line about “being born with the gift of a golden voice” is somewhat lost when — instead of being channelled knowingly through Cohen’s gravelly pitch — it is, in fact, delivered as described.
So Long Marianne – Loren Kate sings Leonard Cohen was performed at The Jade on March 17 and 19
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