He may be a living legend in the music world, but Van Morrison has lost a number of fans over the past year thanks to his various outbursts.
The 75-year-old Belfast native has made his feelings on the restrictions and rules around the Covid pandemic very clear, slamming the idea of socially-distanced gigs as 'pseudo-science' and releasing several coronavirus protest songs. One of them, with Eric Clapton, had lyrics like "“Do you wanna be a free man/ Or do you wanna be a slave?”
Now, Morrison has announced the release of his 42nd album and it looks like he's taking this crusade further.
The poetically-titled 'Latest Record Project: Volume 1' will be released on May 7th and the tracklisting along is quite something.
Social media users have picked up on a running theme, with some finding it difficult to connect the man who wrote 'Astral Weeks' with the same person who is releasing a song called 'Why Are You on Facebook?' and 'They Own the Media'. We shudder to think where he's going with the latter.
'Dead Beat Saturday Night' apparently "addresses lockdown life in matter-of-fact style: “No life, no gigs, no choice, no voice.", while 'Where Have All The Rebels Gone' "bemoans the lack of real independent thought", according to the press release.
Here's the title track:
See the full tracklisting below, along with the social media reaction (which he could probably get a song out of, to be honest...)
Latest Record Project
Where Have All the Rebels Gone?
Psychoanalysts' Ball
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Tried to Do the Right Thing
The Long Con
Thank God for the Blues
Big Lie
A Few Bars Early
It Hurts Me Too
Only a Song
Diabolic Pressure
Deadbeat Saturday Night
Blue Funk
Double Agent
Double Bind
Love Should Come With A Warning
Breaking The Spell
Up County Down
Duper's Delight
My Time After a While
He's Not the Kingpin
Mistaken Identity
Stop Bitching, Do Something
Western Man
They Own the Media
Why Are You on Facebook?
Jealousy
