Rolling Stone Van Morrison’s ‘Latest Record Project’ Is a Delightfully Terrible Study in Casual Grievance
His repetition sounds less like the trance-like mysticism of a Caledonia poet and more like a furious customer demanding a refund.
By Bradley Quinn
In 1967, Van Morrison recorded 31 perverse one-minute ditties in order to fulfill his record contract. The off-the-cuff songs, brimming with contempt for just about everything in the young singer-songwriter’s orbit –– the Sixties, rock & roll, scoring a surprise hit with “Brown Eyed Girl” –– established a young Morrison as, among many other things, a first-rate troll. The first five tracks were titled “Twist and Shake,” “Shake and Roll,” “Stomp and Scream,” “Scream and Holler,” and “Jump and Thump.” On “Here Comes Dumb George,” he mumbled those four words for a full 80 seconds.
Rating:
Verdict: Needs an edit
Keen to avoid the sophomore slump that afflicts so many artists on that tricky second album, Rag’n’Bone Man flew to Nashville in a bid to step away from the blues and soul of 2017’s Human, a polished debut that topped the charts and turned him into a major star.
A change of scenery has certainly had an impact on the imposing singer from Uckfield in East Sussex, who uses Life By Misadventure to try his hand at acoustic folk, Coldplay-like balladry and guitar-driven numbers with a country-rock feel. Such an eclectic approach can sometimes work a treat, but the effect here is merely scattergun.
USA TODAY
It s Friday, which means there s a batch of new music to carry us through the weekend.
This week we have a buffet of projects from artists in different genres, from Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall and Jack Ingram s new country album The Marfa Tapes to British rock band Coldplay s upbeat, motivational single Higher Power.
Pop sisters Aly and AJ are back with a new studio album, which they say captures that West Coast energy on the 12-track project.
Rapper J. Cole also teases his upcoming album with the release of his new single, titled Interlude.
Here s what we re adding to our playlists.
Last modified on Thu 6 May 2021 08.36 EDT
Even a man as implacably opposed to lockdown as Van Morrison â who spent 2020 releasing songs rubbishing science as âcrooked factsâ, mocking people for wearing masks and describing the government as âfascist bulliesâ while also invoking the Berlin Wall â might be forced to concede it had its advantages. After all, it gave him the time to write the material for Latest Record Project Volume 1, a 28-song, two-hour-plus opus that allows him to set out his latterday worldview more fully than any previous work.
Van Morrison: Latest Record Project Volume 1 album cover
Morrisonâs longstanding sense of distrust â the result of some dubious contracts he signed in the 1960s â long ago calcified into a
Van Morrison Claims He Is A Victim of Freedom of Speech
Van Morrison claims he’s had a “very negative reaction” for exercising “freedom of speech” in his songs.
Van Morrison has been open about his criticism of lockdowns and released three protest songs last year and launched a campaign to save live music amid the coronavirus pandemic, but he was dismayed that only Eric Clapton paid attention to his plea for fellow artists to “fight the pseudoscience and speak up”.
Morrison is concerned people are being silenced for expressing alternative views.
He told the Times newspaper’s Saturday Review: “The only other person who has any traction or motivation to speak out about what’s going on, to get out there and question things, is Eric.