Van Morrison has confirmed his first album of original material since 2022 will release later this year.
The Moondance and Astral Weeks legend announced Remembering Now earlier today (February 27). Remembering Now will release June 13 and is accompanied by a series of UK tour dates in March. Lead single Down to Joy, which featured in the Academy Award-winning movie, Belfast, has also been released to promote the upcoming album. A description of the album, which follows cover albums Moving on Skiffle and Accentuate the Positive, suggested comparisons between his upcoming material and major hit, Brown-Eyed Girl.
It reads: “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.”
A list of concert dates can be found below, with remaining tickets able to be purchased here. Morrison will also open for Neil Young at a gig in Dublin on Young’s Love Earth tour.
March 18 – Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
March 19 – Birmingham Symphony Hall, Birmingham
March 23 – Oxford New Theatre, Oxford
March 24 – The Sub Rooms, Stroud
March 30 – Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
March 31 – Usher Hall, Edinburgh
April 14 – Mandela Hall, Belfast
April 15 – Mandela Hall, Belfast
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