5 Ways a Casio Keyboard Shaped Leonard Cohen’s Synth-Pop Turn
- Cohen found a Casio keyboard and used it to write and demo songs for I’m Your Man.
- The keyboard’s built-in rhythms and sounds pushed him away from acoustic arrangements toward synthesizer-driven production.
- This shift marked a deliberate move into synth-pop territory, a stark contrast to his earlier folk style.
- The Casio’s limitations forced Cohen to work with simple, repetitive patterns that became the album’s signature.
- The resulting sound polarized fans but proved Cohen could reinvent himself without losing his lyrical edge.