When Guy Fletcher turned up at Mark Knopfler’s door in 1984 “with a keyboard under his arm, looking for employment” (or so Mark alleges), I wonder if he could possibly have conceived that he would still be working with that same man some 38 years later. I can’t imagine he would. Nonetheless, that first project the two men worked on together – a soundtrack album for the movie Cal – would lead to Guy joining Dire Straits for the recording of 1985’s Brothers in Arms album, and prove to be the beginning of an enduring partnership that has encompassed virtually every project Mark has worked on ever since. Clearly, Mark could see that Guy would be somewhat of an asset to have around beyond simply being an additional keyboard player. He is certainly multi-talented. If you’ve ever been to a Mark Knopfler concert, Mark will often comment on his remarkable ability to play keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, Hawaiian lap steel, and perhaps even fix your watch or your bicycle. In his book My Life in Dire Straits, bass player John Illsley commented how “you could sit him down in the cockpit of a jumbo jet for half an hour and he’d probably work it out and take it for a spin.”
So, all in all, a pretty useful chap.
What Guy brings to the table is clearly evident in the music he has co-produced with Mark – particularly in comparatively recent years. Albums such as Get Lucky (2009), Privateering (2012) and the remarkable Tracker (2015) are of a superior sonic quality to the vast majority of pretty much anything else you’ll hear. Real Live Roadrunning, a DVD/CD set recorded on Mark and Emmylou Harris’ collaborative 2006 tour, remains by some margin the best mixed live recording I have ever heard. And Guy has played a central role in all of these projects. When you join the immense songwriting talents of the likes of Mark Knopfler with the vast technical know-how and good ears of the likes of Guy Fletcher, you have quite the formidable combination.
Having worked with such a master of the songwriting craft over so many years, it stands to reason that at least some of that mastery will have rubbed off on Guy. It was in 2008 that he set out on his own creative endeavours with the release of his debut solo album Inamorata. Listening to that album, it seemed clear to me that Mark’s songwriting mannerisms had indeed influenced him to some extent. But he also has a style and an approach to writing songs that is all his own and as with all the most talented musicians, that style has been honed and developed over time. Stone, an EP of outtakes and remixes, followed in 2009. A second album, Natural Selection, was released in 2010 and, as a body of work, the songs on this album held together arguably better than the first. High Roads, his third album, surfaced in 2016. The latest Mark Knopfler project at that time had been the beautifully produced Tracker, and I get the impression that the careful, thoughtful construction and delicate nature of the arrangements on that album had a significant impact on High Roads. As good as his previous albums had been, Guy took things to another level at this point. With beautiful songs such as ‘Margaret Set’, ‘Another Gale Blows’, ‘April Light’ and ‘Modern Game’, it makes for a more than pleasant and compelling listening experience.
Obviously, you can hear a development occurring over the course of those three albums – each one managing to better the previous work in one aspect or another. Then in 2020, like all of us, Guy found himself with some unexpected time on his hands. The result is his fourth album, Anomaly. And this record, released in April 2022, is a whole other kettle of fish to anything he has recorded previously. It’s difficult to know exactly where to start when evaluating Anomaly. There is a lot to unpack here. But that’s okay. I like a challenge, and it’s a great excuse to place this fascinating collection of songs in my CD player once again.
Where the previous albums were (for want of a better word) more organic, or perhaps ‘rootsier’ in stylistic terms, Anomaly takes us down a considerably more electronic and unexpectedly experimental route, with layer upon layer of sumptuous synthesisers, samples and effects piled on top of one another. It begins innocently enough with a track entitled ‘Shagpile Bed’, a song centred around Guy’s experience of sleeping underneath the console at DJM studios in New Oxford Street early on in his musical journey. The lyrics paint the scene quite vividly, and indeed you will also find references to various aspects of each song’s story in the artwork of this album – a veritable cacophony of colourful imagery customised to every song. The Troggs recorded at DJM – a nod to the band can therefore be found in the artwork.
It’s a strong opener, but with the second song, entitled ‘Last Night of the Riviera’, the more experimental, almost eccentric theme that characterises this album begins to reveal itself. Featuring appearances by fellow Mark Knopfler bandmates Jim Cox on piano and Ian ‘Ianto’ Thomas on drums (who features behind the kit on most of the album) as well as vocalist Sarah Ozelle, just about everything unimaginable has been thrown at this recording. Sound samples of archaic computer games, speech from a Cold War era American civil defence broadcast…it is a work of sonic intrigue that pervades Anomaly. The array of synth sounds are another element that feature heavily across the album. They give such atmosphere to so many of the songs, and in places almost a feeling of euphoria. The first half of ‘Airtime’ is one such example. And, being a sucker for a good synth pad myself, I find the outro of the title track a particular pleasure to listen to.
Certainly, Anomaly has many a quirky moment. It has uplifting moments too. The rousing chorus of ‘Some Place Else’, a song about the pitfalls of being in a struggling band, is a memorable stand-out that will repeat over and over in your head after the first listen. There is a touch of nostalgia on tracks such as ‘Shagpile Bed’ and ‘Seems Like Yesterday’ – which, I might add, wins my coveted prize for Lyric of the Year: “Jeans that never seemed to fit / Polypropylene was shit”.
But there are also the more poignant moments, most notably on ‘Unlucky Number’, a song dedicated to Mark Knopfler’s British Grove studio manager David Stewart, who was so cruelly taken from us during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Being so integral to the very existence of British Grove, his loss must have been a huge shock to all concerned and the song is a touching tribute.
Anomaly is an album that constantly takes the listener in unexpected directions. Upon my first listen, I remember musing to myself: “What’s this? Huh? Now where’s he going?!” It is unpredictable to say the least. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Guy was constructing these songs. It would have been fascinating to witness these songs coming together and to see how on Earth he came up with all these weird and wonderful ideas. It is a fabulous album. It is extremely innovative and consistently maintains the listener’s interest. I like music that challenges the ear and even now, several months since its release, I still find something new each time I give it a spin. To come up with such a brilliant collage of sound as this requires a quite astounding level of technical knowledge and creative imagination. Who knows where he may possibly go next. While his day job, as it were, steadfastly remains being an indispensable part of Mark Knopfler’s output, Guy has become a top-class recording artist in his own right, and I for one will certainly be intrigued to hear whatever he comes up with going forward.
Copies of Guy Fletcher’s Anomaly are available in various formats from his website, as well as a 12” art book in lieu of a vinyl edition. And if you ask him nicely, he may even sign it for you! http://www.guyfletcher.co.uk
Mike's Musical Musings 