David Knopfler
Release

Looking at my record shelf that embraces the musical universe as widely as possible, anyone would notice in the rock domain a clear distinction between names that are essential by touch and others that would say something only to those who have had the fortune of inhaling music through their own ears. Names that more often than not have enjoyed considerable popularity, like Bernie Leadon (in the Eagles pre-HOTEL CALIFORNIA), Gene Clark (in the first two important works by The Byrds), or Mick Clarke (Killing Floor and Salt high-quality music but too tight for him). People who certainly loved what they knew how to do but eventually preferred a music world according to their own personal vision over the mass success they had tasted, savored, but perhaps found indigestible. Authors and interpreters of sounds that fed on roots that spanned genres such as country, blues rock, and folk, creating a singular dense and multifaceted style brimming with passion and courage, further rewarded by taking necessary distances from the music-biz that perhaps had become too demanding and from which they feared being unjustly swallowed.

Naming David Knopfler in this context certainly does not seem out of place. The English musician, along with his brother Mark, starting from a council flat (read: public housing) in Farrer House on Church Street in Deptford in the southeastern part of the English capital, laid the foundations with the record store clerk and bassist John Illsley and drummer Dave Withers (known as Pick) for a musical reality that would perform for the first time on June 26, 1977, in the gardens of the residential district of Crossfield Estate as Café Racers and then, in its way, conquer the world under the name of Dire Straits.

As 1983 drew to a close, the third child (preceded in the birth order by his brother Mark and his six-years-older sister Ruth) of the Knopfler family began to stand on his own two feet, releasing RELEASE. The album contains ten tracks where a refined gentle pop-rock holds sway, with a certain danceability appearing now and then, confirming an elegant and personal writing style suitable for a very wide audience. There is a clear preference for atmospheres that mostly exude tranquility, also due to the particular narrative hue which, helped by the pleasantness of the harmonies, would become a distinctive feature of David's entire career, capable of combining uncontainable gusts but also unsettling shadows.

The sweet piano introduction of "Soul Kissing" takes us straight into the heart of a sound with a strong narrative imprint, rough but also infused with much romance, with sighed verses aimed at encouraging natural singability. Chosen appropriately as a flagship track, it expresses a genetic Dylan-esque soul, which best summarizes a creative intensity able to coexist naturally with a gospel choir and synths never too invasive. A dirty sax and a hinted tribal rhythm lead straight to "Come to Me," a piece where melody and a rough vocality blend wonderfully on an alternately rhymed text, drawing out a song that is both fluid and enveloping. If there hasn't been talk of Dire Straits (even though John Illsley plays the bass in the opening track) until now, it is because with "Madonna’s Daughter," one encounters much more than a simple hint. From the introduction (where flanger and chorus further compress the guitars), it moves through a hook and chorus that instantly captivate, partly due to a driving pulse that characterized the enveloping sound of that MAKING MOVIES that David had begun to record (although a version of "Solid Rock" played by him appears in the original 1980 soundtrack for the film RIDIN' HIGH) and the rhythm emerging from his brother Mark's recognizable fingers! Sounds that become politely more danceable and in tune with the times with "Roman Times" and the no-frills funky of "Slideshow," where the magical phrase dance with me goes beyond a simple declaration of intent. The singer-songwriter's suit fits exceptionally well in the moving "The Girl and the Paperboy," which in the perhaps overly dark stride of "Little Brother," proves perfect as background music in a lounge bar. On the same wavelength is "Hey Henry," suitable for sealing pastel-colored urban landscapes (the series of television shows Miami Vice would land on the small screen at the end of summer 1984), while the stirring "Night Train" will do even more with a delightful and descending chorus, leaving the album's closure to the lullaby "The Great Divide," recorded as the first track at Matrix Studios in London in 1981.

And if among the years spent between Gosforth Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne and those at Bristol Polytechnic, the dedication to the instrumental approach was manifested very strongly (guitar, piano, and drums), it nonetheless allowed David Knopfler to make use of musicians of significant caliber like Arran Ahmun on drums (already with Andy Fairweather Low and then with Andy Summers, Gerry Rafferty), Betsy Cook on Piano Synthesizers and Backing Vocals (with past experiences alongside Bonnie Tyler, Sally Oldfield, Paul Brady) and Pino Palladino: bass (serving Gary Numan, Paul Young then Richard Wright, Elton John and Clapton, joining The Who in the third millennium).

About 40 minutes of simple music that could lean towards - consciously on the writer's part - the highest scores perhaps for a slight rounding up, never forgetting, however, that the charm of certain works goes far beyond the arduous task of changing the history of music and the risk of unjustly belonging to what many consider a lesser discography, which I dare to define as honest and sincere as in this case.