Ex-Dire Straits Frontman Mark Knopfler Working on New Album

Mark Knopfler is currently in the studio working on his next solo disc, although the album will not see the light of day until at least 2012. The former Dire Straits frontman also appears as a guest musician on a couple of recent releases.

A new update on Knopfler's official website reports that Knopfler will start mixing the album in early 2012, but no release date has been set as of yet. The singer-guitarist entered the studio in March of this year to begin work on the follow-up to his sixth solo disc, 2009's 'Get Lucky.'

In the meantime, Knopfler appears on two recent releases by other artists. He plays a guitar solo on the track 'Flat Stuff' off singer-songwriter Greg Brown's new album 'Freak Flag.' Plus, he also contributes to the song 'Healing Hands of Time' on jazz pianist/vocalist Diane Schuur's recently released disc, 'The Gathering.'

In other Dire Straits news, check out an interesting new article in British newspaper The Observer that details how the band's 1985 album, 'Brothers in Arms,' helped popularize the CD format.

Watch Dire Straits Perform 'Walk of Life' in 1985