Mark Knopfler
Tracker
(Virgin)
Thirty years ago, Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms began its platinum-plated journey to becoming the eighth biggest-selling album in UK chart history and Money For Nothing hit the No 1 spot with its nod to consumer culture. Since then, in solo form, Mark Knopfler has stripped away the 1980s gloss and occasionally dipped a toe in folksy waters, particularly when playing alongside Celtic Connections stalwarts John McCusker, Michael McGoldrick and Phil Cunningham.
That trio make key contributions on Tracker adding a roots foundation to the Van The Man waltz of Laughs And Jokes And Drinks And Smokes or nudging Knopfler's trademark guitar sound more towards Celtic blues on Mighty Man.
There's a smokey nostalgia to the music and stories here, which makes Tracker feel like one of his most personal records yet: the copy boy who meets poet Basil Bunting in the song Basil was indeed Knopfler at Newcastle's Evening Chronicle in the 1960s.
The track list feels unified in mood but diverse in delivery - textbook Americana for Silver Eagle, a funkier jam for Broken Bones - and Knopfler's knack for storytelling is strong throughout. And anyone who writes a song purely to take literary judges to task for only awarding Beryl Bainbridge a posthumous Booker (even if the result retains a touch of Sultans Of Swing) surely deserves a little respect.
Alan Morrison
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