Van Morrison
"Latest Record Project, Volume 1" (Exile/BMG)
COVID-19 has affected us all, and turned Van Morrison into a conspiracy theorist.
To be fair, Morrison has a long-standing reputation as an irritable curmudgeon fixated on injustices perpetrated on him by the music business.
But now paranoia has become his raison d'etre, complaint his divining principle. He made headlines last fall with songs like "No More Lockdowns" that railed against "fascist bullies" denying him a right to earn a living. On "Stand and Deliver," which he wrote and Eric Clapton sang, Morrison equated pandemic restrictions with slavery.
Thankfully, those songs are not included on "Latest Record Project, Volume 1." Unfortunately, 28 others are on the double LP, which unwittingly makes the case that pop music lyrics really do carry weight, particularly when they're this bad.
Not everything on "Latest Record Project" is contemptible. Sometimes it seems Morrison is joking: The title song might serve as droll commentary on the commodification of art if it didn't bang on for over five minutes.
Criticism that Morrison is washed up musically is off base. Yes, the arrangements tend toward predictable 12-bar blues, but the Hammond B-3-cushioned grooves shuffle along effectively, and the 75-year-old Northern Irish songwriter's voice is in terrific shape.
The trouble is the words that come out of his mouth. Sometimes, they're merely artless, as in "Why Are You on Facebook?" In "The Long Con," Van the victim is "a targeted individual."
Morrison's stature as a major artist responsible for some of the most openhearted and spiritually satisfying music of the rock era is inarguable. But "Into the Mystic" feels long ago and far away. Unsuspecting fans are warned not to follow him on this dark and at times evil journey.
"Western Man," a pity party for the powerful man who has "let others steal his rewards," is an alt-right dog whistle. "They Own the Media" heinously trots out an anti-Semitic trope.
The story that "Latest Record Project" tells is of a once transcendent artist who's allowed bitterness and grievance to poison his music.