1970 – Vinyl

An entirely worthy successor to 2015’s From Darkness, 1970 is arguably Cohen’s offering to date that has the greatest mainstream appeal, as it sees the bassist-vocalist unveil 12 pieces that range from heartfelt original songs in English such as Emptiness and Blinded to spirited reprises of Middle Eastern folk songs. Cohen and a superb band that includes regular percussionist Itamar Doari, oud player-guitarist Elyasaf Bishari, keyboardist Jonatan Daskal, drummer Tal Kohavi, cellist Yael Shapira and vocalist Karen Malka, who featured on previous Cohen releases, have fine-tuned arrangements that are enviably concise and radio-friendly.

Unity, compassion and togetherness have been recurrent themes in Cohen’s work to date, and he expresses those feelings vividly on pieces like ‘Song of Hope’