Mark Knopfler 10: Privateering

People like consistency, and we know that when Mark Knopfler releases a new album, we’ll have a pretty good idea what it will sound like. We don’t expect another Making Movies or Love Over Gold, but chances are he’s not about to go too far out of his (or our) comfort zone.

Recorded throughout 2011, Privateering was released worldwide in 2012, except in North America, where it took another year. Reviews were generally positive. At nearly 90 minutes there are two full albums here, but the sequence is mostly arbitrary. The music is what you’d expect: slow rumblings here, uilleann pipes there, chunky rockers elsewhere. The big addition this time out is Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, blowing harp through a Green Bullet on the bluesier tunes. The songs are all pleasant, and fairly interchangeable, though he does have a way with words (“Don’t Forget Your Hat”, “Corned Beef City”, “I Used To Could”, “Hot Or What”). The one true standout is “Radio City Serenade”, a ‘70s Tom Waits-style ballad that’s slow and pretty and doesn’t sound like everything else.

Mark Knopfler Privateering (2012)—3