Ilya Monosov

  His bio maintains that Ilya Monosov was shaped by dissident Russian culture in the late Soviet period and that this influence can be discerned in his music and English-language lyrics. Collaborating with members of the acoustic, medieval psychedelic group Fern Knight, he has shaped a moody album sung in a murmuring bedroom voice. Brushed lightly with sadness, Monosov at his best recalls Leonard Cohen on longing songs such as “My Dear,” “Winter Lullaby” and “The Burning Flame.” The resemblance may be less a matter of Cohen’s influence on Monosov than shared roots in Ashkenazi Jewish melody and introspection.