Yet another new album to be excited about in 2006. Rolling Stone has the story behind this duets collection, due April 25:
For the past decade, whenever Harris and Knopfler found themselves in the same city, they'd rent a studio and lay down country duets. It started with a brief session seven years ago and ended with two weeks in Nashville in 2001. The result is a quiet, country-flavored album featuring twelve tracks mostly written by Knopfler, including two ballads inspired by 9/11, "This Is Us" and "If This Is Goodbye." The latter, inspired by an Ian McEwan story about the doomed airplanes, has Knopfler and Harris portraying a couple contemplating their final moments together. "I'm glad it works as a straightforward love song," Knopfler says. "I wanted to just point out the value of a life lived with love in it. If there's any answer to barbarism and backwardness, then that is it."
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