MARK KNOPFLER : DOWN THE ROAD WHEREVER

 

  1. Trapper Man
  2. Back On The Dance Floor
  3. Nobody's Child
  4. Nobody Does That
  5. Good On You Son
  6. Floating Away
  7. One Song At A Time
  8. Heavy Up
  9. Slow Learner
  10. Just A Boy Away From Home
  11. My Bacon Roll
  12. When You Leave
  13. Matchstick Man

Label : British Grove Records

Length : 66:32

Release Date : November 16, 2018

Review (AllMusic) : Nine albums into a remarkably consistent post-Dire Straits solo career, Mark Knopfler has little to prove aside from living up to his own high standards. That's not to say he's incapable of surprises or the occasional left turn, but the general trajectory of his non-soundtrack output as far back as 2004's Shangri-La has continued to cut a pleasingly familiar groove that fuses his myriad preferences (country, jazz, blues, pub rock, folk, Celtic) into the distinctive brand of understated English roots rock that has become his bailiwick. A single elegantly muted guitar squall or dry vocal phrase is usually all it takes to recognize the author and yet, Knopfler has never been one to coast on his reputation, diligently putting in the work and honing each of his songs into their essential form. Such is the case with Down the Road Wherever, a classic Knopfler grab-bag that essentially picks up where 2015's Tracker left off. A wide-ranging mix of reflective autobiographical fare and warm, eclectic storytelling, it runs the gamut from tales of a footloose football fan strolling through enemy territory (the bluesy "Just a Boy Away from Home") and a wayward bar musician hitchhiking on Christmas Day (the spare solo acoustic cut "Matchstick Man") to a pair of deeply personal and elegant piano-led jazz ballads in "When You Leave" and the smoky "Slow Learner." Well-crafted midtempo rockers like "Good on You Son" and "Back on the Dance Floor" hit that deep pocket of hooky melodicism, nimble unhurried fretwork, and half-drawled cool that is one of Knopfler's specialties. A somewhat lengthy collection, the album does tend to drag a little in its second half and while there are no outright duds, a bit of editing might have turned a strong 14-track outing into an excellent ten or 12-track one. Still, the fact that Knopfler is writing and recording at such a high level of quality at this stage in his career makes each release something to celebrate.

Review (Wikipedia) : Down the Road Wherever is the ninth solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 16 November 2018 by British Grove Records via Virgin EMI in the UK and via Blue Note in the United States. The album was announced in a press release, which called it a collection of "unhurriedly elegant new Knopfler songs inspired by a wide range of subjects, including his early days in Deptford with Dire Straits, a stray football fan lost in a strange town, the compulsion of a musician hitching home through the snow, and a man out of time in his local greasy spoon." The 14 songs were also called "slow and elegant". Musicians who play on the album include Jim Cox and Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Nigel Hitchcock on saxophone, Glenn Worf on bass guitar, Danny Cummings on percussion and Ian Thomas on drums. Imelda May also provides backing vocals. A music video for the first single, "Good on You Son", was released in September. Down the Road Wherever was made available in a variety of formats, including on CD, 2×LP and in a box set; the box set includes the preceding two formats as well as a 12-inch EP including four extra tracks. The deluxe CD inserts two bonus tracks before the final standard edition track, "Matchstick Man". Lyrics for the 20th song, "Back in the Day", were released online and printed in the 2019 tourbook but the song was not released at the time. It finally saw the light of day in 2022 on the box set The Studio Albums 2009-2018, along with another unreleased song from the same sessions, "Precious Voice From Heaven".