Mark Knopfler
Shangri-La

In 2004, the "Sultan of Swing" returns, the guitar hero and the soul of Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, and he does so with a work that is more uniform, consistent, and of decidedly remarkable value than ever.
The sound is the usual one, typical of Dire Straits, namely, country-rock infused with sweet blues arrangements. Guitars are much simpler and less sharp and aggressive than in the past. But one thing is certain: the technique is always the same, and it's all in this hour of music.
The lead single, "Boom, Like That," fully encapsulates the Dire Straits style. Almost 6 minutes of blues that literally take us back to the sound of the early days of the British band, when with the creation of "Love Over Gold," "Brothers In Arms," and "Making Movies" they became one of the greatest rock bands of that period.
The overall rhythm of the album is not at all pushed, quite the contrary. Everything flows rather slowly, and that is precisely the strong point of the album.

It is quality blues that is the thread running through the entire work. In fact, just listen to "The Trawlerman's Song," "Song For Sonny Liston," and "Donegan's Gone" to realize that good old Mark, with his six-string Fender, can still compose impactful pieces that are easy and pleasant to listen to. The example to take for an idea of the quality of the arrangements is certainly "Everybody Pays," with a keyboard as simple as it is essential that sounds very '70s and a guitar-bass couple that intervenes at the right moment, giving that magic touch to the entire song.
There is also room for elegantly acoustic episodes, like "Back To Tupelo" and "All That Matters" (which sounds almost like a lullaby), which give a slight touch of variety to an album that is, all in all, not very heterogeneous but not boring or repetitive either.

14 tracks for just over an hour of very laid-back music, in full Knopfler style. Indeed, this is exactly what the former Dire Straits guitarist has accustomed us to. The times of the grit of "Money For Nothing" and the carefree vibe of "Walk Of Life" are long gone. Now we have a more serious, reflective Mark Knopfler, different from those years. After a few recent missteps like "The Ragpicker's Dream" and the decent "Sailing To Philadelphia," an album that confirms everything Knopfler has done, without adding or taking away anything from his style. Everything has remained more or less similar to what was already written and played in his previous solo activity, and perhaps this is what doesn't make this album perfect. But ultimately, it's very pleasant to see and hear artists age like this if the quality always remains at medium-high levels...
"When you're young and beautiful
Your dreams are all ideals
Later on it's not the same".