MARK KNOPFLER – Tracker (2015)

*

Dire Straits were big. Stadium big, big on that MTV, big on headbands and padded suits –aesthetically Eighties. To the music and guitar aficionados MARK KNOPFLER has always been held in high esteem; a finessed finger-picker, witty balladeer, reluctant pop star and a country wise man – a bloody good Jack of all trades basically.

His brand new “Tracker” to be released next March 16th opens in typical Knopfler dialect with “Laughs and Jokes and Drinks and Smokes”. Low whistles permeate the song whilst strings, acoustic and brushes offsetting the distinctive low grumble that’s epitomises Knopfler’s restrained approach to vocals. His greatest ability lies in his effortless talent to form epics from the minor moments of happiness and content that occur on a daily basis and seldom make it to song format.
Knopfler says: ‘The album title Tracker arrived out of me trying to find my way over the decades. Out of me tracking time – looking at people, places and things from my past, and out of the process of tracking as in recording tracks in the studio.’
And that’s very indicative towards the feel of the songs here.

Perhaps the most representative song on “Tracker” is the first single / video “Beryl”, combining Knopfler’s trademark narrative with his idiosyncratic, eternally resonant picking style, sounding something like Dire Straits during a front-porch picking session. The plucked guitar intro has the evocative atmosphere of famous works like ‘Telegraph Road’ – like Dave Gilmour, Knopfler is one of the few guitarists who can be identified from a single note.

He’s telling here the story of an author misunderstood in her own time. Named after Beryl Bainbridge, Knopfler’s subject found herself serially nominated for the UK’s prestigious Booker Prize for fiction writers, but never received one until after passing in 2010. Of course, while Bainbridge was so often overlooked — and, in fact, already in her grave (“after all she gave”) by the time recognition finally arrived — Knopfler has led that life in reverse.

With smash hits like ‘Sultans of Swing’, ‘Money for Nothing’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Brothers in Arms’ you have to wonder how Knopfler stays so humble.
Acclaimed perhaps beyond his own imagining three decades ago, Mark Knopfler pushed back from that stardom, and has done his level best never to return, focusing instead on smaller projects (collaborations, soundtracks and detailed but dilated solo efforts).
“Tracker” is another example of an icon whose honesty and integrity is what has made his previous seven solo albums such a joy.
Yes, I know, this is not your typical kind of music featured here, but equally enjoyable.

01 – Laughs And Jokes And Drinks And Smokes
02 – Basil
03 – River Towns
04 – Skydiver
05 – Mighty Man
06 – Broken Bones
07 – Long Cool Girl
08 – Lights Of Taormina
09 – Silver Eagle
10 – Beryl
11 – Wherever I Go (featuring Ruth Moody)

Mark Knopfler – Vocals, Guitars, Bass
Jim Cox – Organ, Piano
Tim O’Brien – Mandolin, Vocals
Glenn Worf – Bass
Ian Thomas – Drums
Mike McGoldrick – Pipes, Whistle
Ruth Moody – Vocals

PRE-ORDER:
www.amazon.co.uk/Tracker-Mark-Knopfler/dp/B00S1M7IAE
.