Remembering Now Singer/Songwriter

Van Morrison presents his new album Remembering Now. It represents his first collection of original music since 2022 and also follows the acclaimed covers albums Moving On Skiffle and Accentuate The Positive. The albums launch is accompanied by the longawaited single Down To Joy, which receives its first official release after memorably featuring in Kenneth Branaghs Oscar and BAFTA winning film Belfast.With Remembering Now, Van Morrison returns to the transcendent, uncategorisable rhapsodies that make him unique. Soul, jazz, blues, folk, country this is music in conversation with all of them but limited by none. Its rich with hallmarks of classic Van Morrison, from dominant themes of love in spirit with the great Someone Like You the escapist romance of Once In ALifetime Feelings, the selfdeprecating candour of The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours to specific references to locations from his youth in the title track and Stomping Ground. The title of another song, When the Rains Came, echoes a lyric from his classic Brown Eyed Girl.From the radiant opener, Down To Joy, to the joyously resilient Havent Lost My Sense Of Wonder, Van Morrisons voice, guitar and saxophone continue to mesmerise, and he is surrounded, as always, by a fabulous band Richard Dunn Hammond organ, Stuart McIlroy piano, Pete Hurley bass and Colin Griffin drums and percussion who have worked with him since Three Chords and the Truth in 2019.The single Down To Joy feels like he has gone back to his soul and gospel roots, its strong emphasis on an uplifting big band arrangement with evocative strings providing fans with a taste of timeless sounds whichrepresents the rest of the album.Beyond his key band members, Remembering Now features an array of accomplished collaborators. Its strings were arranged and directed by Fiachra Trench Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, whose association with Van Morrison goes back to Avalon Sunset in 1989. Those strings were performed by the Fews Ensemble led by Joanne Quigley. Other contributions come from Michael Beckwith, the founder of the AgapeInternational Spiritual Center, the renowned lyricist Don Black Ennio Morricone, John Barry, Quincy Jones and the acclaimed folk artist Seth Lakeman.