Van the misery man mellows with age
WHEN he visited Buck - ingham P alace to receive a knighthood in F ebruary, Sir V an Morrison told P rince Charles he had no plans to retire.
Describing himself as just a ‘ blue-eyed soul singer from East Belfast’, Sir Van said he intended to keep on writing songs and playing the shows that are his lifeblood.
He has not given up on his 52-year recording career, either, and this first album of original material since 2012’s Born To Sing: No Plan B is an understated delight.
His 36th album overall, it retains some of Born To Sing’s jazz elements, but also reacquaints Van The Man with his soul, country and singer-songwriter leanings.
The singer, 71, springs few surprises. Backed by simple but elegant arrange - ments, he sings songs about beatnik days in California and a Northern Irish child - hood, and should have little trouble in recreating these arrangements when he tours next month.
Indeed, he played many of the numbers when he launched the album with an intimate club show in London ’s Mayfair on Wednesday.
Morrison is a famous curmudgeon, but Keep Me Singing is uplifting . Memory Lane, a rueful ballad about the passing of the seasons, is a thing of beauty.
The reflective mood extends to Every Time I See A River. Co-written with Don Black (the lyricist behind Bond theme Diamonds Are Forever), it digs into his love of classic soul and is tinged with a potent sense of longing.
The singer reiterates his desire to keep on rolling on a jaunty title track, while there is a foray into gospel on Holy Guardian Angel, which seeks solace in prayer. There is also a return to the impressionis- tic lyrics of his 1968 masterpiece Astral Weeks on the trance -like Out In The Cold Again, a track he described as an exercise in ‘fact and fiction’ when he sang it this week.
Morrison had the corporate world in his sights on Born T o Sing, but there is no finger -wagging. The closest we get to a lecture is R&B number The P en Is Mightier Than The Sword. Even here, he shies away from scolding, concluding: ‘I can’t tell you what you’re supposed to do.’
There are affectionate nods to heroes. In Tiburon is built on memories of seeing trumpeter Chet Baker play The Trident restaurant in California. The sole cover , Share Your Love With Me, sits so well on the cusp of country and soul that it has previously been sung by K enny Rogers and Aretha Franklin.
This welcome return — with the Belfast Cowboy firmly back in the songwriting saddle — reinvigorates him as a solo artist.
THE growing strength of UK - made country music was reiterated this month when Cartwheels, the second album by Hampshire sisters Ward Thomas, topped the charts.
Now their rivals The Shires, who were the first British country act to reach the T op Ten, hope to do something similar with My Uni - verse. Another duo, they graft slick production and catchy hooks on to the Nashville basics.
Unlike Ward Thomas, who rely on sibling harmonies, Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes alternate vocal lines, their boy-girl combination generating a supple blend.
And, while this album was made in Nashville, three of its best songs, including Other P eople’s Things, were co -written by Ed Sheeran ’s former muse Nina Nesbitt.
Their heartland pop is sometimes overly polished, but their place in the vanguard of homegrown country is assured.
Both albums are out today. Van Morrison opens a tour at the o2 Arena, London, on october 20 (ticketmaster.co.uk). the Shires start touring at the Limelight, Belfast, on November 15 (seetickets.com).