Leonard Cohen is one of my favorite singers of all time. I’ve danced to his music, cried to his music and felt connected to the full spectrum of humanity listening to his music. As I imagine it does with others, his Hallelujah song reaches into the center of my being, raising me up to the heavens. (I do count myself as quite fortunate to have seen him perform live at Merriweather Post Pavilion a few years before he passed.)
About a dozen years ago, I was at a salon, sitting under the hot-air dryer, reading some magazine or another, when I came across an article about Antony & the Johnsons (now, Anohni & the Johnsons) in which the journalist spoke about how beautifully she’d adapted some of Leonard Cohen’s songs. I was curious and later poked around online, listened to some of her videos and found myself feeling drawn to her unique voice.
As I don’t know much about the mechanics or terminology of music, I’ll let someone else describe her singing: “The instantly distinguishing feature is Anohni’s voice, a tenor-contralto with a fast yet wide vibrato and a deep, rich essence. The voice is not quite of this world. Nor are Anohni’s songs.”
Anhoni, imo, does Leonard Cohen’s art a solid in her renditions of his songs. Here she is singing Leonard Cohen’s If It Be Your Will.
#1 says The New Yorker!
Whoa! I just went a-lookin’ for a link to her band’s site and found this juicy morsel: her song, My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross, was listed as the NUMBER ONE song of 2023 by The New Yorker. (Yay! Maybe that means she’ll start touring again. It has been a minute since she has done so. I know. I’ve looked. I’ve searched.)
