A return to original songwriting following a series of cover albums and reworkings of his past material, Van Morrison’s 47th studio album, Remembering Now, is a bid to prove the singer-songwriter’s commitment to the nostalgic and apolitical themes he built his reputation on. Indeed, the album dispenses entirely with the self-righteousness and borderline delusion of tracks like 2021’s “The Long Con” and 2022’s “Dangerous.”
“Down to Joy,” which opens Remembering Now and originally appeared in the soundtrack to Belfast, is a perfectly serviceable piece of bluesy soft-rock, while “If It Wasn’t for Ray” and “Haven’t Lost My Sense of Wonder” are straightforward declarations that Morrison still has a few kicks left in him. The songs show little interest in straying from the loungey melodic progressions he’s relied on for decades. “Haven’t Lost My Sense of Wonder” seems to directly rebuke the cynicism of his recent work, and establishes the song structure followed by many of the album’s subsequent tracks: pensive, often repetitive lyrics set to music that builds gently to a climax that doesn’t feel meaningful or earned nearly as often as it should.
With songs this structurally samey, any change in the production breathes life into Remembering Now. The appearance of a fiddle on “Cutting Corners” seems to jolt Morrison out of autopilot, and the frilly arrangement of “Back to Writing Love Songs” is accompanied by a similarly spirited performance—a reminder of how central his energy is to his best work.
Morrison settles into a stride during the album’s second half, which tends toward more languid beats and drawn-out grooves. “Memories and Visions” and the title track traffic in the kind of new-age generalities few musicians are able to sell as well as Morrison, and the simplicity of the lyrical—at times mantra-like—content seems to inspire a stronger investment from him.
Ostensibly covering more personal topics without providing much specificity, these relaxed compositions recall Morrison’s underrated 1991 album Hymns to the Silence. While they might not pass muster against even his lesser career highlights, they at least convince you that his heart is still in it. His uniquely unburdened, earthy voice has aged quite well and he easily holds these songs together. If only the material were more consistently compelling.
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Totally disagree with the review here. A grade of 3 out of 5 sounds mediocre. Remembering Now (2025) is a masterwork. I put it to you that all 14 songs are better than Brown Eyed Girl. This is serious stuff about aging and memories.