Various Positions in Bloomington, MN

Recorded with vocalist
Jennifer Warnes
(who later cut the album
Famous Blue Raincoat
, a collection of
Leonard Cohen
compositions),
Various Positions
is a stunning return to form --
Cohen
's strongest work since
New Skin for the Old Ceremony
. Cryptic and spartan, the set continues in the eclectic vein of recent efforts, but with greater clarity and focus, resulting in an intriguingly diffuse collection ranging from the
Serge Gainsbourg-esque
pop
of
"Dance Me to the End of Love"
to the boozy,
country
-inflected
"The Captain."
~ Jason Ankeny