This is another gentle, tastefully low-key "adult" album from Mark Knopfler. It is another fusion of folk, Americana, country, blues and rock which combine to create Knopfler's unique, instantly recognisable sound.
Knopfler's sound is by now a trademark, distinctive easy groove that features several styles, none of which dominate. It is all about the mood, the sound, merged with the lyrics, often sensitive, observant and haunting. It is musically unthreatening, but always understated in its comfortable beauty. It all sounds so wonderfully effortless.
True Love Will Never Fade is so Springsteen-esque it could almost be him. It sounds very like If I Should Fall Behind and others from that period. The Scaffolder's Wife is a tender ballad telling of one of Knopfler's "ordinary people" characters featuring some laid-back Dire Straits-ish slow guitar. It is beautiful and moving. The Fizzy And The Still is another quietly attractive number. Heart Full Of Holes is the sort of song that sounds as if it should be sung at a local pub's folk night - all acoustic plucking and earnest, softly delivered lyrics. A few minutes in, the band kick in with a vaguely country waltz beat which adds an appeal to the song. This is a quality song.
We Can Get Wild is a later era Dire Straits-ish slow tempo bluesy rock song, with a subtle, shuffling rhythm and the usual quiet vocal. Secondary Waltz is an appealing, nostalgic song about schoolboys being taught to waltz, complete with a waltz beat and violin and accordion backing. It is a most atmospheric song. Quite lovely too, with a fetching Celtic feel.
A change of mood and rhythm comes with the almost world music percussion intro of Punish The Monkey, which sounds as if it should be on a Paul Simon album. There is an addictive bluesy sound to it too. Let It All Go is one of those typical, haunting, Knopfler slow blues rock with Mark getting mournfully nostalgic in his lyrics and whispered but wise-sounding vocal delivery. Behind With The Rent has echoes of the first Dire Straits album, with some nice brass backing near the end.
The Fish And The Bird is very Celtic folk in its haunting, plaintive feel. Madame Geneva's is a torch-type morose tale of a drinker's life, packed full of atmospheric lyrics. The Van Morrison-esque In The Sky ends this understated album in suitably low-key fashion. It is another slightly Celtic-influenced folk song, featuring some subtle saxophone, unusually. Listening to this album is a relaxing, thoughtful experience. It doesn't pull up any trees, it sits quietly there, watching their branches gently sway.
