Legendary singer/songwriter Van Morrison will release  Keep It Simple, his second album on Lost Highway, on March 11. The self-produced collection is Van Morrison’s first studio release since 2006 and latest collection of personal reflections.

“It’s just a song about how everything’s gotten now so complex and how things have become so complicated and nothing’s easy to do anymore,” Morrison says of the disc’s title track. “So the song’s a kind of prayer – or what have you – let’s hope we can get back to something simple, otherwise, we’re screwed.”

The album is said to be one of Van Morrison’s most direct statements in recent memory, driven by guitar, harmonica and the singer/songwriter’s touching lyrics.

“It’s not going to be the same every time – you have to go through the ups and downs,” he continues. “It’s ups and downs, death and rebirth. It’s not going to be easy -- unless you want to be doing the same thing at the same level all the time. I’m not relying on what I did years ago. I’m not a greatest hits act. That’s the difference between me and most of what’s going on in pop music.”

The album is also said to touch upon gospel, Celtic soul, jazz and country, with a unified message of “soul and healing.”

“People don’t remember what you did, or what happened, or how you got here,” he says. “I didn’t get here the easy way. It’s people who don’t know me. They don’t actually look at what this guy’s actually been through. They see the big versions of what’s supposed to be me – but they don’t know my biography really. That’s what this whole record’s about.”

Van Morrison will preview his new material on the road throughout the winter and spring. After wrapping up his current European tour, Van Morrison will celebrate Keep it Simple’s release with a SXSW performance at The Austin Music Hall on March 11. A few days later, he will perform at Nashville, TN’s Ryman Auditorium on March 13, before heading across the pond for another round of dates.

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