I have listened to Van Morrison on and off since his Gloria days with Them. In case you have lost track, he is still recording at age 75. And his most recent production a 28-song compilation titled Latest Record Project, Vol. 1 has ignited a controversy. First the music, then the controversy. What struck me listening to the album, which I am still working my way through, is how good Van sounds.
Van Morrison s Latest Record Project Vol 1 is his 42nd studio album
Credit: Bradley Quinn
It is sometimes said of great vocalists that they could sing the phone book and make it worth listening to. Well, there are moments on Van Morrison’s new album when you may find yourself wishing he would just wrap his golden vocal cords around a text as unremarkable as a telephone directory, and stop bloody moaning.
The Northern Irish singer-songwriter is 75, still in remarkably fine voice, and clearly filled with creative energy; this, you might think, would give him at least something to be grateful for. But his almost heroically grouchy 42nd album suggests otherwise. Entirely written and recorded during the pandemic, Latest Record Project Volume 1 is a sourly-titled double album (triple on vinyl) of 28 songs, during which he barely has a good word to sing about anything. The track listing speaks volumes: The Long Con; Big Lie; Diabolic Pressure; Blue Funk; Stop Bitching, Do Somethin’;
Genre: Classic rock
Key track: Stop Bitching, Do Something
Of all the musicians to come out of the British Invasion, few have had careers as consistently praised as Northern Irish soul singer Van Morrison.
Where so many of his peers have been running on empty or recycling past glories, Morrison has been incredibly prolific. But when you are cranking out albums as solid as 2019s Three Chords and the Truth, there is nothing wrong with releasing one record after the next. That the singer is notoriously cranky was balanced out by his considerable talents. Until now, that is.
With Latest Record Project Volume 1, Morrison has managed to come up with what could become a whole new genre: Classic Curmudgeon Rock.
Sir Van Morrison has sparked a furious debate among fans over a new album that attacks lockdown, Facebook, the mainstream media and an absence of independent thinkers.