Cohen admitted to The New Yorker that he has several unfinished tracks and that his declining health may prevent him from finishing them before the album’s release in October 2016.

He admitted to the magazine, “I don’t think I’ll be able to finish those songs.” “Perhaps; who knows? I don’t know, maybe I’ll get a second wind. But I’m not brave enough to commit to a spiritual course of action. I won’t risk doing it. I need to get to work. Attend to your business. I’m ready to pass away. I hope you won’t find it too uncomfortable. I think that’s about it.”

What caused Leonard Cohen’s death?

The month following the publication of the New Yorker piece and the release of “You Want it Darker,” Cohen passed away on November 7, 2016. Three days later, his passing was published without a cause of death, while The Washington Post claimed the artist had cancer.

Leonard Cohen, a Canadian singer-songwriter, has devoted his entire career to writing poetry on life, love, faith, and death. I’ve seen the future, baby: It is murder, he sang on his latest album, “You Want it Darker” (via Genius).

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