The new Mark Knopfler album, whenever it comes out, has all the reasons in the world to be a great record and it better be. It may sound a little bit unfair, but we have all the right in the world to feel that way.
This might be one of the longest gaps ever between albums, both for MK and Dire Straits. This has also got to be one of the longest recording sessions ever, that started getting more and more extended as time went by.
The great artists in history usually had (unfortunately) the greatest burst of creativy when at the brink of despair or tragedy.
This album has been rumored to happen for a while now, it's been years, and how quickly they went by. The wait and the anticipation for it is already long enough. The rumors about Mark not touring anymore creates an extra deal of hunger for new material.
Not only that, but since Mark's previous album and tour, we've had the pandemic (surrounded with all the things that went with it), the war, the Queen's passing and now recently the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
So much tragedy in the last few years, which is the perfect circumstance, an ideal setup if you will, or the playing field under which Mark usually thrives on the best. And as our hero, we really hope he delivers. Especially since we don't know if this'll be his last album ever. I mean, you never know.
Hope he also finishes and dusts off some of his many years old songs we never heard about, since they are usually very good whenever they get finally finished. I'm also very intrigued to see what are the kinds of subjects and topics Mark's interested in nowadays, what kinds of ones will he use this time to express himself. What will he compare his musical style or songwriting process to this time? If he was gonna sing songs about some of the recent tragedies in the world, he certainly wasn't gonna do it in obvious fashion, since he never did that. So what's he gonna compare it to, or should I say what kind of parallels will he make this time? Or maybe we might see a more personal MK this time, leaving a great mark on his entire career in reflective ways but also as a sort of a tribute, where he's gonna pay homage to his Straits days but also for his own entire career as a musician. Maybe some touching words about retirement or some end-of-the-life type of deal, near-death experiences or assumptions or whatever. Maybe also some unique musical styles, maybe a return to some styles he hasn't done in a while.
The world needs him to "make a statement". The stage couldn't be set any better for him. I count on him to deliver.
