Back to basics for Mark Knopfler on his new album “One Deep River”

Songwriter-guitarist Mark Knopfler delivers his tenth studio album “One Deep River”. A record in which the almost 75-year-old artist evokes, among other things, the region of northern England where he grew up.

Clearly, Mark Knopfler has been in the spotlight since the start of 2024. Sale of his guitars at auction in January, release of a charity single with an impressive cast in March, a series of TV shows with the singer by AC/DC Brian Johnson coming soon and a new album this April, followed by an EP next week.

And yet, he will no longer walk this stage, as he announced during his last tour in 2019, and again confirmed recently. So above all, don’t talk to him anymore about the possibility of a Dire Straits reformation, it won’t happen… his fan community has known it well, for a long time now.

Influences still very present…

Almost thirty years since Mark Knopfler has led a solo career that is both discreet and solid. Sold-out tours, and records that sell well, even if they don’t make the headlines. Certainly, the style is less flamboyant than in the 1980s, the guitar is more in the background, letting the lyrics express themselves. The musician also considers himself “much more of a songwriter than a guitarist, and even more so now”.

Nothing surprising for this former journalist and English teacher, passionate about literature, and whose reading is a constant source of inspiration. His young years as a newspaper intern Evening Chronicle in Newcastle, he mentions them in Black Tie Jobs (“jobs with black ties”) as he had already done previously in Basil on the album Tracker in 2015.

Despite this focus on lyrics for several years, even decades, Knopfler has not forgotten what has made him famous: a typical guitar sound, all restrained and without arrogance. A style that he drew from various influences including JJ Cale and his characteristic atmospheres.

This last album One Deep River opens with a piece that one would think came from the discography of the Oklahoma musician: rhythm loop, minimalist guitar, dubbed vocals, all the ingredients of the famous “Tulsa sound” are there for this song which ironizes the fact of having to have “four arms” to manage everything… when you are leading a group on stage. A nod to the Dire Straits juggernaut, which Knopfler regularly explained had outgrown it and was no longer manageable?

This JJ Cale-style groove can also be found in the haunting and hypnotic Scavengers Yard, with accents closer to Dire Straits and notably a rough guitar, a type of sound that the guitarist has used more rarely in his last records.

The previous album, Down the Road Whereverdisplayed an ode to the great outdoors, even in its title and on its cover. One Deep River could at first glance celebrate the return to the fold and a more homely climate.

But also new sounds

However, the general musical color of the record sounds very Americana. The omnipresence of the pedal steel guitar infuses a country-folk flavor that is familiar in Knopfler’s solo discography. As for the guitar with its instantly recognizable sound, it’s there on several occasions.

The solos are always quite brief, but never leave any doubt as to the identity of its author. Smart Money, Before My Train Comes, Janine, Tunnel 13 Or Ahead Of The Game all have their dose of purely Knopflerian guitar.

On the other hand, we are surprised here and there by sound interventions to which Knopfler had not accustomed us until now. Almost disconcerting sound effects at the start of Sweeter Than The Rainprominent strings on Black Tie Jobs, and especially female choirs on several pieces, including the superb, almost mystical introduction to Tunnel 13.

The other element which contrasts with previous albums is the absence of a profusion of Celtic arrangements, which only appear here on a single track, This One’s Not Going To End Well.

Back to the past

If One Deep River marks a return to the sources of Jjcalian and Americana influence, it also offers a return to the past of its author. Mark Knopfler has not often signed autobiographical texts, most of the time preferring to position himself as an observer. In this album, he seems to indulge a little more than usual.

Of course, there are always stories inspired by news items, even sordid ones (Tunnel 13), the allegory of the journey through the upheavals of life (Before My Train Comes) or the theme of the growth of cities (Janine). But some texts can hardly be read in the third person. This is the case of the more than melancholy Watch Me Gone. The romantic breakup depicted there undoubtedly belongs to Knopfler’s past, although the person concerned will never confirm it.

The songwriter has always let the public interpret his texts as they wish, giving little indication of the meanings of his songs.

The river as a symbol

However, what appears clear in this album is the evocation of his childhood and adolescence spent in Newcastle, in the north of England. A town crossed by the River Tyne that Knopfler cites as a passage to which he returns again and again.

“We always think about crossing the Tyne”, he explains. “Whether you leave or return, it is a connection to your childhood. Its power does not fade.”

The title track sounds peaceful and serene. A little marvel that closes the record in a masterful way. The Newcastle docks already set the scene for Down to the Waterline which opened Dire Straits’ first album in 1978. And the “deep river” closes this disc 46 years later. Should we see this as the end of a cycle for Mark Knopfler?

The singer-songwriter says he wants to continue recording new albums, as his song ideas continue to flow. Failing to see him again on stage, we hope to continue hearing him for several more years, like a long, quiet river with which we like to come and recharge our batteries regularly.

“One Deep River” by Mark Knopfler was released on the 12th April (Mercury/Universal)

Official website of the artist