Morrison, Van

Van Morrison can put out most anything he wants, and he will have a guaranteed audience. Thankfully, after the better part of four decades after his epochal Astral Weeks, he’s still finding fresh angles within the matrix of jazz/blues/r&b/Celtic folk that made his name as a solo artist. Magic Time won’t only satisfy those who can’t get enough of the Belfast Cowboy’s soulfully elastic gruffness, but fans wondering as to his spiritual state should likewise glean insight. When not putting his spin on a handful of swinging standards, Morrison evinces a godly handle on life. With a bluesy chug, he wants to “Keep Mediocrity At Bay,” but “They Sold Me Out” finds him relating to Christ’s betrayal by Judas without the melodrama a lesser singer might read into it. Revisiting a leonine theme on his St. Dominic’s Preview, he sings of “The Lion This Time,” which sounds to be as much about human struggle as the tempered power of a Narnian Aslan/Jesus. Because he’s Van Morrison, no one’s going to give him guff for putting songs of such heavenly thoughts next to slightlier romantic numbers. Were only evangelighetto labels more willing to sign (or distribute) acts so poised between aesthetic invention and tradition, personal confession and faithful profession.
[Geffen/Exile/Polydor] Jamie Lee Rake

This album review was originally published in the Sep/Oct Issue (#115) of HM Magazine. Order the Print Version to read tons more reviews.

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