Van Morrison will release his new album ‘Remembering Now’ on June 13th. It represents his first collection of original music since 2022 and also follows the acclaimed covers albums ‘Moving On Skiffle’ and ‘Accentuate The Positive’. The album’s launch is accompanied by the long-awaited single ‘Down To Joy’, which receives its first official release after memorably featuring in Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar and BAFTA winning film ‘Belfast’.
With ‘Remembering Now’, Van Morrison returns to the transcendent, uncategorisable rhapsodies that make him unique. Soul, jazz, blues, folk, country – this is music in conversation with all of them but limited by none. Its rich with hallmarks of classic Van Morrison, from dominant themes of love in spirit with the great ‘Someone Like You’ (the escapist romance of ‘Once In A Lifetime Feelings’, the self-deprecating candour of ‘The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours’) to specific references to locations from his youth in the title track and ‘Stomping Ground’. The title of another song, ‘When the Rains Came’, echoes a lyric from his classic ‘Brown Eyed Girl’.
From the radiant opener, ‘Down to Joy’, to the joyously resilient ‘Haven’t Lost My Sense of Wonder’, Van Morrison’s voice, guitar and saxophone continue to mesmerise and he is surrounded, as always, by a fabulous band – Richard Dunn (Hammond organ), Stuart McIlroy (piano), Pete Hurley (bass) and Colin Griffin (drums and percussion) – who have worked with him since ‘Three Chords and the Truth’ in 2019.
The single ‘Down To Joy’ feels like he has gone back to his soul and gospel roots, its strong emphasis on an uplifting big band arrangement with evocative strings providing fans with a taste of timeless sounds which represents the rest of the album.
Beyond his key band members, ‘Remembering Now’ features an array of accomplished collaborators. Its strings were arranged and directed by Fiachra Trench (Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello), whose association with Van Morrison goes back to ‘Avalon Sunset’ in 1989. Those strings were performed by the Fews Ensemble led by Joanne Quigley.
Other contributions come from Michael Beckwith, the founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center, the renowned lyricist Don Black (Ennio Morricone, John Barry, Quincy Jones); and the acclaimed folk artist Seth Lakeman.
‘Remembering Now’ is available to pre-order HERE. It will be released on black double-vinyl, orange double-vinyl, CD, cassette and digital formats.
Having just completed a three-night run at Whitla Hall in Belfast, Van Morrison is now set to play the following shows:
MARCH
18th – Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
19th – Birmingham, Symphony Hall
23rd – Oxford, New Theatre
24th – Stroud, The Sub Rooms
30th – Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
31st – Edinburgh, Usher Hall
APRIL
26th – Antwerp, Koningin Elisabethzaal
27th – Brussels, Bozar
29th – The Hague, Amare
30th – The Hague, Amare
JUNE
4th & 5th – Night of the Botanical Festival, Madrid
‘Remembering Now’ tracklist
1. Down To Joy
2. If It Wasn’t For Ray
3. Haven’t Lost My Sense Of Wonder
4. Love, Lover and Beloved
5. Cutting Corners
6. Back To Writing Love Songs
7. The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours
8. Once In A Lifetime Feelings
9. Stomping Ground
10. Memories And Visions
11. When The Rains Came
12. Colourblind
13. Remembering Now
14. Stretching Out
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