Album Review: Down the Road Wherever by Mark Knopfler

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.

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