Down the Road Wherever features 14 unhurriedly elegant new Knopfler songs inspired by a wide range of subjects, including his early days with Dire Straits, a stray football fan lost in a strange town, the compulsion of a musician hitching home through the snow, and a man out of time in his local greasy spoon.

Knopfler has a poet’s ear and telling details infuse his songs. His warm Geordie vocal tone and his deft, richly melodic guitar playing are as breathtaking as ever.