🎶 Van Morrison’s ‘Remembering Now’ Is a Sensational Return to Adequacy and That’s Not a Bad Thing

🎶 Van Morrison’s ‘Remembering Now’ Is a Sensational Return to Adequacy and That’s Not a Bad Thing

In a world obsessed with reinvention and reinvigoration, sometimes adequacy is exactly what the moment calls for. With Remembering Now, Van Morrison the Northern Irish troubadour of soul-soaked barroom ballads and Celtic-infused jazz  delivers an album that doesn’t shout, doesn’t shine, but somehow still settles in like a familiar coat that fits just well enough.

Let’s be clear: Remembering Now is not Astral Weeks. It’s not even Keep Me Singing. But it is unmistakably Van Morrison, with all the grumpy mysticism, lounge saxophones, and lyrical meandering that long-time fans either cherish or tolerate.

A Gentle Revisit to Familiar Ground

The album opens with “Time’s a Blur (So What?)”  a bluesy shuffle with more resignation than revolution. Morrison’s voice, still smoky and stubborn, croons through verses that question memory, modernity, and maybe his own relevance. It’s all very Morrison: cryptic, crotchety, and oddly comforting.

There’s something magnetic about how effortlessly he recycles his signature moods. Tracks like “Walking Through the Echo” and “Back on the Avenue” aren’t breaking new ground, but they glide along warmly in minor keys, supported by horn sections that sound imported straight from 1997.

Lyrical Curmudgeonry, Still Intact

Van’s lyrical themes remain delightfully irascible. He gripes about algorithms in “Invisible Charts,” throws shade at social media in “Nothing but Noise,” and tosses in a baffling spoken word interlude about quantum mysticism on “Staring at the Calendar.” It’s all very on-brand: a poetic stew of half-formed complaints and cosmic questions.

But for every moment of lyrical crankiness, there’s an emotional anchor. “Remembering Now,” the title track, is a hushed piano ballad that surprisingly lets its guard down. Here, Morrison reflects not on lost fame or the ills of youth culture, but on fleeting presence — the act of simply being, unadorned. It’s the emotional high point of an album that otherwise seems content to coast.

Adequacy as Artistic Statement

What makes Remembering Now quietly remarkable is its total lack of urgency. This is an album that doesn’t try to prove anything  and that’s precisely why it works. Morrison isn’t chasing trends or reclaiming past glories. He’s just being Van Morrison  gruff, soulful, meandering, and maybe just a little bit magical.

It may not be revolutionary, but in a streaming landscape saturated with algorithm-bait and overproduced bombast, adequacy  especially from a legend  feels like a breath of fresh air. Or at least a half-open window in a smoky jazz club.

Final Verdict: Remembering Now is comfort food for the soul. Lukewarm, maybe  but deeply seasoned.