Artiste: Van Morrison
Album: Remembering Now
Rating: ****
Give this man a telephone directory — if you still have an old one at home — and see him weave a song. The 79-year-old Northern Irishman’s latest album is a return to original songwriting as well as form. The anti-lockdown What’s It Gonna Take? (2022) was critically panned and before that, there was too much archival material. On his latest, Morrison has written all the songs.
The solid effort opens with perhaps its best track — the uptempo Down to Joy, which first appeared in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. The soulful number is bluesy soft rock, recommended over a drink or two. The two tracks that follow — If It Wasn’t for Ray and Haven’t Lost My Sense of Wonder — are straightforward declarations of love for R&B and songwriting. Needless to say, the former is a tribute to Ray Charles, and it puts the keys and organ in the forefront.
Stomping Ground captures the timeless quality of Belfast landmarks, uplifted by a simple string arrangement. He is a man happily trapped in Belfast. The singer declares: Take me down to my old stomping ground.
When The Rains Came is a masterclass in keeping a song sparse and, at the same time, celebrating the magic of folk-blues. Listen to him sing “take my hand, walk with me”.
The ease with which Morrison delivered R&B singles in the early 1970s, turning him into a US pop star, can be felt here. The fireworks of the 1980s are missing in his voice because of age, but the optimism of his music remains intact. This is comforting music from a restless soul.
Artiste: Addison Rae
Album: Addison
Rating: ****
Influencer to pop star, Addison Rae has made a smooth transition. Last year, the 24-year-old released a breathy-sparkly song titled Diet Pepsi to make her mark on mainstream pop. Soon after, she joined Charli XCX and Troye Sivan at their Madison Square Garden Sweat tour stop to perform it live for the first time. The former TikTok star had broken into the pop world. She quickly rebranded herself and continued to release singles.
The Louisiana native with millions and millions of followers on TikTok has turned in a delightful album. Co-written with Elvira Anderfjard and Luka Kloser, Rae shows that Lana Del Rey is her inspiration, and so is Madonna’s highly enjoyable pop. And then there is a touch of Charli XCX and Billie Eilish.
She loves big choruses and touches upon the indie-electronica wave of the early 2010s. High Fashion wins the heart with her pitch-perfect delivery and Diet Pepsi has Lana Del Rey written all over it. Yet, she manages to make the album completely her own. On Fame Is a Gun she sings: Tell me who I am, do I provoke you with my tone of innocence?/ Don’t ask too many questions, that is my one suggestion.
R&B-powered Headphones On grabs attention as she asks listeners to roll with the punches: Every good thing comes my way/ So I still get dolled up/ Guess I gotta accept the pain.
Rae proves she is fantastic at what she does, be it in her capacity as an influencer or a singer. This is music to unwind to over the weekend.
Neil Young, Addison Rae
Singer: Neil Young
Album: Talkin To The Trees
Rating: ***
On his 48th album, Neil Young rambles and growls from the very start: When today has come and gone/ I might be singin’ my new song. The harmonica is there and so is the acoustic strum on Family Life. The album sounds like the effort of a one-man band.
Silver Eagle is the album’s most memorable number. The folkie tune is poignant and what one would be reminded of Woody Guthrie: Many drivers behind your wheel/ Many songs now for us to feel/ As we rode on through this country/ Silver eagle, you’re part of me.
Bottle of Love is a celebration of the Beach Boys era and one is reminded of the time when he and Brian Wilson sang Surfin’ USA together for a 2014 Bridge School benefit.
The 10-song album still finds Young to be heroic in the storytelling department but the tunes have heard-it-before written on them, like on First Fire of Winter (recalls Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Helpless).
What the album needed is more songs like Big Change and Let’s Roll Again, which take on Donald Trump (though Young doesn’t name names) and Elon Musk, respectively. On Big Change, he sings: Big change is coming/ It’s coming right home where you stood. Let’s Roll Again amps it up politically: If you’re a fascist then get a Tesla/ If it’s electric, it doesn’t matter/ If you’re a Democrat, then taste your freedom/ Get whatever you want and taste your freedom.
Young remains undiminished as a writer, the album proves but, at the same time, he is just out on a casual spin around the block with his band.
