''Keep Me Singing'' is the 36th

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

singer-songwriter

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, released on 30 September 2016 by

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label that was founded in 1973. Founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976 and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label rel ...

. It is Morrison's highest-charting album in the US, and third US Top 10 album, following the success of ''

Keep It Simple ''Keep It Simple'' is the thirty-third album by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison, released in the UK on 17 March 2008 and in the US on 1 April 2008. It was Morrison's first US Top 10 album, and made the Top 10 in the UK, Canada and ...

'' (2008) and '' Born to Sing: No Plan B'' (2012).

Critical reception

''Keep Me Singing'' received generally positive reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s, with

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

giving the album an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 74 / 100 based on ten reviews. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' found that "through arrangements elegant to a fault, his mercurial tenor, more supple and restrained, remains a marvel", with his delivery at times being "full of chortles, snarls and gospel-tinged hollers." ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' wrote that Morrison's "voice is as strong and expressive as ever, while the songs are a mix of familiar-sounding, soulful ballads and mid-tempo jazz-influenced tunes." His "liquid-smooth voice" is "just as soulful as ever", wrote ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'', finding that Morrison "draws on a variety of vocal traditions from Celtic folk to contemporary jazz", and combines them "through the sheer force of his being." ''

Consequence Consequence may refer to: Philosophy, science and social sciences * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * Consequent, in logic, the second half of a hypothetical proposition or consequences * Consequent ...

'' concluded that "

here Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...

are very few constants in life, but another warm record from Van the Man seems par for the course", but noted that it was "pierced with a severe, self-reflective melancholy".

Accolades

Commercial performance

''Keep Me Singing'' debuted at number four on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, and at number nine on the US ''Billboard'' 200. It sold 25,000 units in the US in its first week, with almost all of that figure in traditional album sales. It is his last US Top 10 to date.

Track listing

Personnel

- vocals, guitar (1–3, 6, 7, 11, 12), drums (4, 5), piano (13), alto saxophone (8, 10, 13), blues harp (1, 3, 11). * Dave Keary - acoustic and electric guitar (1, 2, 6, 8–10). * Johnny Scott - electric guitar (3, 11). * Nigel Price - acoustic and electric guitar (4, 5, 12). *

John Platania John Platania is a session musician, guitar player, and record producer. He was born in 1948 in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, in Ulster County, near Woodstock. Career Van Morrison Platania is best known for his work with Van Morrison, beginni ...

- acoustic guitar (7, 13). * Paul Moore - bass (1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 13). * Nicky Scott - bass (3, 11). * Jez Brown - bass (6, 9). *

Laurence Cottle Laurence Cottle (born 16 December 1961) is a Welsh bass guitarist and composer. Career His solo recordings have been mostly in jazz and jazz fusion. He was a member of the fusion quartet The Fents and appeared on their second album, ''The O ...

- bass (4, 5, 12), trombone (8, 10, 12). * Paul Moran - keyboards (1, 2, 4–10, 12, 13), trumpet (2, 8–10, 12). *

Fiachra Trench Fiachra Terence Wilbrah Trench (born 7 September 1941, in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician and composer from Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. Trench first studied Chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin, before moving on to the ...

- keyboards (1–5, 8, 10–12), strings arrangements (1, 2, 4, 5, 7). * Enda Walsh - keyboards (2, 3, 7), percussion (3). * Robbie Ruggiero - drums (1, 6, 9). * Liam Bradley - drums and percussion (2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11). * Paul Robinson - drums (4, 5, 12). * Neal Wilkinson - drums (13). *

Kate St John Kate St John (born 2 October 1957) is an English composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist. She was a member of bands Ravishing Beauties, The Dream Academy, and Channel Light Vessel, and of Van Morrison's live band, in which she pl ...

- english horn (4, 5). * Anthony Kerr - vibraphone (8, 10). * Tony Fitzgibbon - fiddle (13). * Ange Grant, Dana Masters, Lance Ellington - backing vocals.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Van Morrison albums Albums produced by Van Morrison