Review

Forty-seven albums into a 58-year recording career, Van Morrison proves hes still got things to say and play on Remembering Now.

Though it runs some 70 minutes, the album has nothing that qualifies as filler among its 14 tracks, reinforcing the 79-year-old Morrisons astonishing late-career creativity.

Morrison writes about his music (the title track), gratitude (Love, Lover and Beloved) and his youth in Northern Ireland on Stomping Ground; the latter pair being but two of a handful of orchestral ballads that recall Morrisons Enlightenment era.

And Morrison does a lot of recycling on Remembering Now, most obviously on If it Wasnt for Ray, a slowed-down recasting of Wild Night, and the Tupelo Honey soundalike that is Havent Lost My Sense of Wonder.

Amid these rehashes are a couple of tracks headed for Morrisons canon. Down to Joy is a horn-driven delight casting the prickly singer in contentment and Cutting Corners is a humble admission of Morrison feeling low but acting strong; both would fit nicely on a concert playlist loaded with classics from his discography.

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dean, jambands.com

Product Details

Van Morrison has never really left, but *Remembering Now* feels like a genuine arrival, the kind of sprawling, genre-fluid statement that calls back to the restless spirit of *Astral Weeks* and *Veedon Fleece* without trying to replicate either. At 79, he’s still drawing from the same deep well of Belfast soul, Celtic mysticism, and American roots music that’s made him one of the most singular voices in the canon.

Van Morrison’s new album, Remembering Now, marks his return to original music with a rich blend of soul, jazz, blues, folk and country, featuring the long-awaited single, Down To Joy.

Tracklist

Side A

1.Down To Joy2.If It Wasn’t For Ray3.Haven’t Lost My Sense Of Wonder4.Love, Lover And Beloved

Side B

1.Cutting Corners2.Back To Writing Love Songs3.The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours4.Once In A Lifetime Feelings

Side C

1.Stomping Ground2.Memories And Visions3.When The Rains Came

Side D

1.Colourblind2.Remembering Now3.Stretching Out

UPC: 044003445659
Label: Exile
Release Date: 6.13.25
Format: LP Vinyl