The ever-enduring crooner returns with a collection of stripped-back, simple songs diverging how it feels to be reaching the twilight of life. Yet Van Morrison keeps all the controlled energy of someone who still has something to pass on to the world.
"Keep It Simple" is a mainly bluesy affair. He's returned to the usual mixture of autobiographical fare and the kind of mix of jazz, folk, blues, country and soul that may be chock-full of lyrical cliche but is always lifted by a voice that really hasn't deteriorated much in the last twenty years. Let's face it: the blues wouldn't be the blues without it's lyrical template. It's the way it's sung that matters, and Van is still peerless in this respect.
Husky, slurred, simple yet honest, the album is one enduring constant is in its title: the acceptance that less is more and that with restraint true quality always prevails.
After five decades of prolific and heart-felt melodies this is amazingly Van Morrison's 33rd studio album but is shows as much dedication as many new artist's debut.
His first recording of original material since 2005 it's also the first album penned solely by Van Morrison's own hand since "Back On Top" in 1999.
You have to try very to hard to find Van Morrison doing much wrong and even when he's not breaking new ground there's still generally enough going on to keep his music worth a listen.
On this one, he does more than just tow the line and even offers up one or two gems in the making - "Lover Come Back" and "End Of The Land" prove in particular why he's not yet disappeared into retirement.
There's a certain grace to Van's stripped-back band and as always he evokes images of sorrow and anguish but with such beauty and warmth that you can't help but smile when you hear him.
It maybe that he has already reached his peak, but what "Keep It Simple" proves is that with the right combination of sensitivity and commitment to his art Van Morrison can still stay ahead the rest of the field and, what's more important, can do it with dignity.
The CD is a better Van Morrison album than anyone had a right to expect - not least on its closing song. Fanning out from a rimshot-riding mandolin phrase, the killer track "Behind the Ritual" returns to a theme that has informed his best songs from "Into the Mystic" and on.
Drinking wine and dancing like a dervish, Van finds "the spiritual behind the ritual".
The supporting cast acquit themselves admirably as well. Of special note is the steel guitar of Cindy Cashdollar (of Asleep At The Wheel). The only downside is that the backing vocals are a trifle over-egged at times.
But on the whole this is a lovely welcome back to a man who's been increasingly offhand in his output of late.
It may look simple, but only a master like Van could pull this off.
Another career high from a great original in the 40th anniversary year of his classic "Astral Weeks".
Simple, but totally brilliant.

Keep It Simple - like most latter day Van Morrison - is neither as brilliant as you might hope, nor as disappointing as you might fear.

The problem, for me, is the decline of Morrison's songwriting. While he was never a lyricist in the class of Dylan or Joni Mitchell, he could once conjure marvelous images and had a poet's ear. He also had the vocal chops - blending jazz, blues and soul - to create a unique style of music. Where immobile steel rims crack /And the ditch in the back roads stop /Could you find me? /Would you kiss-a my eyes? /To lay me down /In silence easy /To be born again (Astral Weeks) Those words read well off the page, but as performed by Van Morrison, they were magic. As a singer, he had no peer, and the combination of his words and music lifted Morrison into the highest echelon - alongside Dylan and Mitchell. His best songs were autobiographical but universal, beautifully crafted, tinged with mystery and ambiguity.

While he has had many ups and downs along the way, the deterioration of Morrison's lyrics might be traced to the otherwise triumphant Hymns to the Silence (1991). Since then, there have been a raft of songs about the woes of being Van Morrison in the music business - Professional Jealousy, Why Must I Always Explain?, Big Time Operators, Songwriter, They Sold Me Out, and now, School of Hard Knocks. Then there are the songs about the woes of simply being Van Morrison - Some Peace of Mind, Too Long In Exile, Melancholia, Underlying Depression. Now there's Don't Go the Nightclubs Anymore.

Morrison's response to criticism of his self-absorption is the title song of Keep It Simple: They mocked me 'cos I told it like it was/Wrote about disappointment and greed/Wrote about what we really didn't need in our lives/Make us feel alive and whole.

That brings us to the real problem, which is not so much Morrison's subject matter as his execution. Lyrically, Don't Go To Nightclubs Anymore and Keep It Simple (to give but two examples) are simply uninspired. They are too literal, like unedited diary entries. It's one thing to keep it simple, another to make it banal.

Too many recent Van Morrison songs lack any real insight or imagination, let alone the sparkling imagery and wordplay of which he is (or was) capable. At worst, they are little more than a pastiche of hackneyed phrases.

The biggest disappointment on Keep It Simple is Behind the Ritual, in which he literally sings blah blah blah blah. The effect, from the man who sang Madame George and made an art form of repetition (the loves to love/ the loves to love) is self-parody.

So why three stars? Because, lyrics aside, Keep It Simple is a fair collection of songs. They don't score highly for originality, but at this stage of Morrison's career, you wouldn't expect that. The arrangements hardly have a hair out of place. Sans horn section, the album has a consistent, intimate groove. Although there are a variety of song forms (blues, folk, pop) the album feels all of a piece. The band is excellent, especially long-time sideman John Allair on the B3, and the singer, he's Van Morrison for Christ's sake.

The radio-friendly That's Entrainment is the brightest moment - a simple three chords, an infectious underlying rhythm, and a clever play on words (entertainment/entrainment) make this a contender for future 'best of' compilations. Lover Come Back is a simple but effective song of yearning. Song of Home is a nostalgic, folky piece with a lovely sense of place, providing the welcome Celtic quota.

It's worth pondering what you'd make of Keep It Simple if you'd never heard of Van Morrison. My best guess is that I would regard the album as quite a find. (There aren't many unknowns, after all, who can sing like Van Morrison.) The point is that any new work by an artist of Morrison's stature will inevitably be assessed against the standards of the artist's best work.

A lot of new music is lightweight, blatantly derivative, gimmicky, or ephemeral in its appeal. Keep It Simple is none of those. It's better than most stuff that makes it onto, ummm, polycarbonate.

This CD is certainly worth a listen, and there's much to recommend it. Just don't pay too much attention to the words.

Other than "Moondance" which came out when I was in high school and includes the song "Moondance" as well as a copy of Van Morrison's greatest hits, that was all I owned by him. Thanks to Amazon.com's feature of being able to listen to "snippets" of songs from each CD, I liked what I heard and ordered this CD. Van Morrison still has a good voice and each cut is good and it's not like you want to skip a couple. It's a little more bluesy that I remember his older music to be. I recommended this CD to several of my friends and relatives.

I had high hopes when Van signed with roots rock label Lost Highway. But after several lackluster records - including the dreadful "What's wrong with this picture" and the dull country record "Pay the devil" - Van has delivered the record I've been imagining. The material and his singing are strong, as are the arrangements and production, and the whole cd has a wonderful organic feel to it. There are a few vague references to "the myth" and "propaganda" (on "What's Wrong...", his paranoid musings made him sound mentally ill), but overall, these are Van's strongest batch of songs in a long while, maybe since "Into the Music." Makes a great companion piece with Dylan's "Modern Times."

Before reviewing this album, perhaps I should say that I only have 4 VM albums - 'Astral Weeks, 'Moondance' (both originally on vinyl), 'Tupelo Honey' and 'Veedon Fleece'; so any comparisons that I make, are with the music from these albums. Apart from the odd song, I am not familiar with his more recent stuff.

Turning to 'Keep It Simple' :

THE VOCALS - Sometimes I've found VM's voice, especially on the high notes, to be too jarring for my ears; but his vocals on 'Keep It Simple' have a smoother and 'lived in' quality - also, his singing is (intentionally ?) slurred at times. Whilst his vocals are quite soulful, they seem to lack some of the passion and intensity to be found on earlier albums. His delivery is, comparatively, straight forward - it's missing much of the unusual phrasing and improvisations that I have come to expect (but you do get the occasional flourish).

THE SONGS - The blurb in the product description talks about 'gorgeous songs rich with emotion, depth and beauty'. Well I certainly wouldn't go this far, whoever wrote this should listen to songs such as 'Cyprus Avenue', 'Madame George', 'Slim Slow Slider', 'Into The Mystic', 'Brand New Day', 'Tupelo Honey', 'Linden Arden Stole The Highlights', 'Streets of Arklow' or 'Country Fair' - in my opinion, these are all exceptionally fine songs. 'Keep It Simple' is a very different album from the ones that I already own, and the songs on it are consistent with the contemplative mood and subdued ambience of the album. Comparing the songs on 'Keep It Simple', with those that I've cited from earlier albums, is rather like comparing 'oranges with bananas' - both fruit and both sweet, but stimulating different sets of taste buds. Nevertheless having said this, I think the songs on 'Keep It Simple' are OK to reasonably good (apart from one or two) - but I don't think any are exceptional.

THE PRODUCTION AND PLAYING - The production and arrangements (by the man himself) are superb, and the overall feel of the album is warm and relaxed (I'd say a very natural and 'unadulterated' sound) - and there is also a slight edginess to the music. VM seems to have assembled some fine musicians here, instruments played include : guitars (acoustic, electric, steel and bass), organ/piano, percussion/drums, harmonica, fiddle, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, accordion and saxophone - there is plenty of instrumental variety. The playing is elegant and restrained (apart from John Allair, who occasionally cuts loose on the Hammond organ*), and it more than adequately, adds extra texture to the music as it 'glides and grooves' behind the vocals (*the album features a few short solos by John Allair and his flamboyant, yet graceful, style of playing is a delight). I'm a bit surprised that some pre-release reviews describe the album's sound as 'stripped back' - I usually associate this with sparse acoustic or semi-acoustic accompaniment and 'hands off' production; but this is not the case on 'Keep It Simple' - there is more instrumental depth than the term 'stripped back' would imply.

Some brief comments about the songs which appealed to me most :

HOW CAN A POOR BOY - A slow shuffling blues number; VM's delivery is perfect for this type of song; some great playing and backing vocals from the band - don't miss the fine harmonica (Ned Edwards) and terrific organ solo (John Allair). Also, listen out for how the sound is slightly pared down at about 4 minutes into the song. Good music, well performed.

LOVER COME BACK - A wistful love song and, although I think the song itself is a little nondescript, it's a gently swaying waltz with some strong vocals from VM; it also includes some tasteful organ and outstanding steel guitar playing (Cindy Cashdollar).

END OF THE LAND - A slow tempo, soulful song with something of a 'classic' VM spirituality about it. It features a brief organ solo and some fluent electric guitar playing (John Platania, I think) - more good music, 'short but sweet'.

BEHIND THE RITUAL - A slow to mid-tempo song - a mix of country blues and gospel, and having a slight mystical quality (another song with a 'classic' VM feel to it). With its infectious syncopated rhythms, the song quiety grooves along. VM fills one verse with 'blah' at least 30 times - not many singers could get away with this, and I'm not convinced he does either (still, it's only one verse!). At 7 minutes, I thought the song was a little too long.

Some of the remaining songs are also well worth a listen - but 'School of Hard Knocks', 'Song of Home' and 'No Thing' didn't do a great deal for me.


By VM standards, 'Keep It Simple' is a fairly mellow, 'easy on the ear' album, i.e. it doesn't place quite the same demands upon the listener as does some of the music from his early albums. Whilst the music is subtle and far from superficial, in terms of the transcendent qualities of his music, I think 'Keep It Simple' falls well short of 'Astral Weeks' or 'Veedon Fleece' (but this aspect of VM's music might not be of interest to you).

Not having bought a VM album for many years, and eagerly anticipating an album of new songs all penned by him, I was looking forward to 'Keep It Simple' - initially, it was an anti-climax, but some of the tracks have since grown on me. It contains half a dozen or so decent songs and those who like' laid back' music with reflective lyrics and a 'bluesy-jazzy-soulful' sound (with a dash of Gaelic folk, country and gospel here and there) may well enjoy it immensely - particularly, if you are not too steeped in VM's early music. VM and his musicians seem more than capable of delivering this type of music and, I should add, not without a certain amount of flair also. However, fans wanting more of his energetic R&B-type music or songs with a strong country flavour, will find little of interest on this album.

So, I am somewhat ambivalent about 'Keep It Simple'; with many of his early albums, VM set the bar high and, with this in mind, I find it difficult to rate 'Keep It Simple' higher than 3 stars. On the other hand, he still produces music of a calibre that many contemporary artists can only aspire to. It's probably one of those albums that benefits from repeated listens - it's music that gets 'into your soul' rather than 'in your face'.

VM ? - he's still alright, he's 'alright with me' (but only just).