Thanks for the Dance
{{Infobox album
| name = Thanks for the Dance
| type = studio
| artist = Leonard Cohen
| cover = Leonard Cohen - Thanks for the Dance.png
| alt =
| released = {{start date|2019|11|22}}
| recorded = 2016
| studio =
| genre =
| length = 29:17
| label = {{hlist|Columbia|Legacy}}
| producer = Adam Cohen
| prev_title = You Want It Darker
| prev_year = 2016
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Thanks for the Dance
| type = studio
| single1 = The Goal
| single1date = September 20, 2019
| single2 = Happens to the Heart
| single2date = October 25, 2019
| single3 = Moving On
| single3date = January 31, 2020
}}
}}
Thanks for the Dance is the fifteenth and final studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released posthumously through Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on November 22, 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2058894/leonard-cohen-thanks-for-the-dance-the-goal/music/|title=New Leonard Cohen Album Thanks For The Dance Out This Fall|website=Stereogum|last=DeVille|first=Chris|date=September 20, 2019|access-date=September 21, 2019}} It is the first release following Cohen's death in November 2016, and includes contributions from various musicians, such as Daniel Lanois, Beck, Jennifer Warnes, Damien Rice and Leslie Feist.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/new-leonard-cohen-album-thanks-for-the-dance-announced-listen-to-the-goal/|title=New Leonard Cohen Album Thanks for the Dance Announced: Listen to "The Goal"|website=Pitchfork|last=Monroe|first=Jazz|date=September 20, 2019|access-date=September 21, 2019}} The song "The Goal" was released with the announcement of the album, on September 20, 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/listen-goal-first-posthumous-song-leonard-cohen-2549925|title=Thanks For The Dance: Leonard Cohen's son unveils new posthumous album and shares first track|work=NME|last=Reilly|first=Nick|date=September 20, 2019|access-date=September 21, 2019}}
Described as a "continuation" of Cohen's previous studio album, You Want It Darker (2016), the album's vocal tracks were recorded during the same sessions, with Cohen's son and album producer Adam Cohen noting that the album should not be considered an album of "discarded songs or B sides".{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/19/arts/music/leonard-cohen-thanks-for-the-dance.html|title=A Last Dance for Leonard Cohen|work=The New York Times|last=Zoladz|first=Lindsay|date=November 20, 2019|access-date=November 20, 2019}}
Background
The songs on the album comprise "sketches" left over from the sessions for Cohen's final studio album You Want It Darker that were finished by Cohen's son Adam Cohen in a "garage near his father's old house".{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/20/thanks-for-the-dance-posthumous-leonard-cohen-album-announced|title=Thanks for the Dance: posthumous Leonard Cohen album announced|work=The Guardian|last=Snapes|first=Laura|date=September 21, 2019|access-date=September 21, 2019}} Regarding the tracks, Adam Cohen noted: "Had we had more time and had [Leonard] been more robust, we would have gotten to them. [We had] conversations about what instrumentation and what feelings he wanted the completed work to evoke{{snd}} sadly, the fact that I would be completing them without him was given."
The title song, "Thanks for the Dance", was originally recorded by Anjani for her 2007 album Blue Alert, produced and written by Cohen, and composed by Anjani, while Cohen's own version of the song was recorded later.
Some songs were years in the making in Cohen's notebooks and home studio. "The Night of Santiago" is an adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca's poem "The Unfaithful Housewife". Probably started at the same time as Cohen's 1986 single "Take This Waltz" and never finished, the lyrics were much later published in Book of Longing as "The Faithless Wife". Adam Cohen finally set it to music: "I'd heard it under construction for years, on the front lawn or while we were having coffee or dinner, and I'd always begged him to attempt to write music to it. In a weakened state, he said, 'Look, I'll just recite the poem to a certain tempo and you go ahead and you write the music and try to tell the story."
The only Cohen's original composition on the album, "The Hills" was previously broadcast as a demo track, titled "The Book of Longing" (based on the opening poem of Book of Longing), during Cohen's interview at the KCRW radio station in 2006, along with his own musical version of "Puppets", also originally published as the poem in the same book (here released to Adam Cohen's music).
Some tracks were composed around Leonard Cohen's recitations. "Listen to the Hummingbird" used Cohen's impromptu recitation of the partial poem at his last public appearance to promote You Want It Darker album on October 13, 2016. The full text of the poem was later published in the posthumous book The Flame, as well the poems "Moving On" and "Happens to the Heart".
"The Goal" is a 1998 poem published in Book of Longing, already set to music by Anjani and released on her 2014 album I Came to Love. Here Cohen's own recitation is set to Adam Cohen's music.
"It's Torn", originally another Cohen's collaboration with Sharon Robinson, here in the version produced and additionally composed by Adam Cohen, included guitar effects by Daniel Lanois, who in 2021 released his own version of the track, titled "Torn Again", using Leonard Cohen's original voice track.
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| MC = 84/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/thanks-for-the-dance/leonard-cohen|title=Reviews for Thanks for the Dance by Leonard Cohen|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=November 22, 2019}}
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/thanks-for-the-dance-mw0003320977|website=AllMusic|last=Deming|first=Mark|title=Thanks for the Dance - Leonard Cohen | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|access-date=10 April 2021}}
| rev2 = American Songwriter
| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}} {{cite web |title=Leonard Cohen's Posthumous Album Thanks For The Dance Does Not Disappoint |url=https://americansongwriter.com/leonard-cohens-posthumous-album-thanks-for-the-dance-does-not-disappoint/ |website=American Songwriter |date=18 November 2019}}
| rev3 = Consequence of Sound
| rev3score = B+{{cite web |title=Album Review: Leonard Cohen Does a Fitting Last Waltz on Thanks for the Dance |url=https://consequence.net/2019/11/album-review-leonard-cohen-thanks-for-the-dance/|work=Consequence of Sound|date=November 20, 2019|access-date=April 10, 2021}}
| rev4 = The Daily Telegraph
| rev4score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite news |title=Leonard Cohen: Thanks for the Dance, review – the life-enhancing final thoughts of a lyrical master |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/leonard-cohen-thanks-dance-review-life-enhancing-final-thoughts/|date=14 November 2019|website=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=10 April 2021}}
| rev5 = The Guardian
| rev5score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite web |title=Leonard Cohen: Thanks for the Dance review – a sublime final statement |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/22/leonard-cohen-thanks-for-the-dance-review-columbia|date=22 November 2019|website=The Guardian|access-date=10 April 2021}}
| rev6 = The Independent
| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news |title=I've always seen Leonard Cohen as a charming, wounded predator – and perhaps that's how he felt, too |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/leonard-cohen-album-review-thanks-dance-posthumous-a9208956.html|date=19 November 2019|website=The Independent|access-date=10 April 2021}}
| rev7 = The Line of Best Fit
| rev8 = Now
| rev8score = 4/5{{cite web|date=November 25, 2019 |title=Review: Leonard Cohen's Thanks For The Dance is a fitting final statement |url=https://nowtoronto.com/music/album-reviews/leonard-cohen-thanks-for-the-dance/|work=Now|access-date=April 10, 2021}}
| rev9 = Pitchfork
| rev9score = 6.9/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/leonard-cohen-thanks-for-the-dance/|title=Leonard Cohen: Thanks for the Dance Album Review|website=Pitchfork|last=Hewitt|first=Ben|date=November 21, 2019|access-date=November 21, 2019}}
| rev10 = Rolling Stone
| rev10score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/leonard-thanks-for-the-dance-916417/|title=Leonard Cohen's Profound 'Thanks for the Dance' Is a Posthumous Grace Note|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=Hermes|first=Will|date=November 21, 2019|access-date=November 22, 2019}}
}}
Thanks for the Dance received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 25 reviews.
Rolling Stone gave the album 4 stars, praising the album and saying it is "a magnificent parting shot that's also that exceptionally rare thing — a posthumous work as alive, challenging, and essential as anything issued in the artist's lifetime".
The album was a Juno Award nominee for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020.Melody Lau, [https://www.cbc.ca/music/junos/news/alessia-cara-and-tory-lanez-lead-the-2020-juno-nominations-1.5436386 "Alessia Cara and Tory Lanez lead the 2020 Juno nominations"]. CBC Music, January 28, 2019.
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_lyrics = Leonard Cohen
| title1 = Happens to the Heart
| music1 = Adam Cohen
| length1 = 4:33
| title2 = Moving On
| music2 = {{hlist|A. Cohen|Patrick Leonard}}
| length2 = 3:11
| title3 = The Night of Santiago
| music3 = A. Cohen
| length3 = 4:15
| title4 = Thanks for the Dance
| music4 = Anjani Thomas
| length4 = 4:13
| title5 = It's Torn
| music5 = {{hlist|A. Cohen|Sharon Robinson}}
| length5 = 2:57
| title6 = The Goal
| music6 = A. Cohen
| length6 = 1:12
| title7 = Puppets
| music7 = A. Cohen
| length7 = 2:39
| title8 = The Hills
| music8 = L. Cohen
| length8 = 4:17
| title9 = Listen to the Hummingbird
| music9 = A. Cohen
| length9 = 2:00
| total_length = 29:17
}}
Personnel
{{div col}}
- Leonard Cohen – vocals (1–9)
- Pietro Amato – horns (8)
- Erika Angell – vocals (8)
- Kobi Arditi – trombone (1)
- Avi Avital – mandolin (2)
- Beck – Jew's harp (3), acoustic guitar (3)
- Romain Bly – trumpet (1)
- Howard Bilerman – recording engineer (8)
- Charlie Bisharat – violin (1)
- Jacob Braun – cello (1)
- David Campbell – conductor (1)
- {{interlanguage link|Cantus Domus|de}} – choir (7)
- Matt Chamberlain – drums (8), percussion (8)
- Michael Chaves – bass (1,2,3,4,5,7,9), acoustic guitar (1,5,8), claps (3), drums (4), percussion (5), electric guitar (7,8), synthesizer (8)
- Adam Cohen – acoustic guitar (3), claps (3), synthesizer (7), vocals (9)
- Stewart Cole – trumpet (4), flugelhorn (4), clarinet (4), modular synthesizer (4)
- Carlos de Jacoba – acoustic guitar (3)
- André Deritter – conductor (1)
- George Doering – baritone ukulele (4)
- Andrew Duckles – viola (1)
- Leslie Feist – vocals (4)
- Caimin Gilmore – double bass (1)
- Larry Goldings – flute (1), piano (9)
- Steve Hassett – vocals (9)
- Rob Humphreys – percussion (1)
- Daniel Lanois – piano (1,3), vocals (3), guitar effects (5)
- Lilah Larson – vocals (8)
- Patrick Leonard – piano (6)
- Javier Mas – Spanish laud (1,4), acoustic guitar (2,3,4,6,9), claps (3)
- Dustin O'Halloran – piano (5)
- Georg Paltz – clarinet (1)
- Silvia Perez Cruz – vocals (2,3)
- Zac Rae – felt piano (1,3), ride cymbal (2), Wurlitzer (2,3), vibraphone (2,4), toy piano (2), synthesizer (3,5), kick drum (3), organ (4), zither (5), strings (6,7), piano (7), bells (7), keyboard (9)
- Zoe Randell – vocals (9)
- Mariza Rizou – vocals (2)
- Richard Reed Parry – bass (3)
- Damien Rice – vocals (9)
- Sharon Robinson – percussion (5), vocals (5)
- Shaar Hashomayim Men's Choir – choir (7)
- Jason Sharp – saxophone (8)
- Jessica Staveley-Taylor – vocals (9)
- Mishka Stein – bass (8)
- Aaron Sterling – cymbals (4)
- Dave Stone – string bass (1)
- Alistair Sung – cello (1)
- Molly Sweeney – vocals (8)
- Jamie Thompson – drums (8)
- Maaike van der Linde – flute (1)
- Marlies van Gangelen – oboe (1)
- Josefina Vergara – violin (1)
- Mariam Wallentin – vocals (9)
- Jennifer Warnes – vocals (4)
- Patrick Watson – organ (8), synthesizer (8 and 9), horn arrangement (8)
{{div col end}}
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Weekly chart performance for Thanks for the Dance ! scope="col"| Chart (2019) ! scope="col"| Peak |
| {{album chart|Australia|11|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Austria|2|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 5, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Flanders|1|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 7, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Wallonia|10|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|BillboardCanada|1|artist=Leonard Cohen|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 3, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Czech|7|date=201948|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 3, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Denmark|3|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 4, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Netherlands|5|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Finland|17|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 1, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|France|15|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=April 25, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Germany4|5|id=395507|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 29, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Hungary|23|year=2019|week=51|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 26, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Ireland2|6|artist=Leonard Cohen|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Italy|11|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| scope="row"| Lithuanian Albums (AGATA){{cite web|url=https://www.agata.lt/lt/naujienos/savaites-klausomiausi-w48/|title=2019 48-os savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)|language=Lithuanian|publisher=AGATA|date=November 29, 2019|access-date=November 29, 2019}}
| 58 |
|---|
| {{album chart|New Zealand|4|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Norway|2|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Poland|5|id=1259|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 5, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Portugal|1|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 8, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Scotland|6|date=20191129|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Spain|7|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 4, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Sweden|6|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Switzerland|4|artist=Leonard Cohen|album=Thanks for the Dance|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 4, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|UK2|7|date=20191129|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 30, 2019}} |
| {{album chart|Billboard200|61|artist=Leonard Cohen|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 3, 2019}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 2020 year-end chart performance for Thanks for the Dance ! scope="col"| Chart (2020) ! scope="col"| Position |
| scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders){{cite web|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=2020&cat=a|title=Jaaroverzichten 2020|publisher=Ultratop|access-date=December 18, 2020}}
| 73 |
|---|
| scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100){{cite web |url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-2020 |title=Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts 2020|language=de |publisher=GfK Entertainment |access-date=December 18, 2020}}
| 63 |
| scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade){{cite web|url=https://hitparade.ch/charts/jahreshitparade/2020|title=Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2020|website=hitparade.ch|access-date=December 28, 2020}}
| 51 |
{{col-end}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Thanks for the Dance}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Austria|artist=Leonard Cohen|title=Thanks for the Dance|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=2019|certyear=2019|accessdate=December 16, 2019}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Poland|artist=Leonard Cohen|title=Thanks for the Dance|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=2019|certyear=2023|access-date=March 8, 2023}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Leonard Cohen}}
{{Authority control}}