Dire Straits' John Illsley Talks New Solo Songs

(Classic Rock) John Illsley has given Classic Rock the rundown on four tracks from his upcoming album Long Shadows. The former Dire Straits bassist issues his latest solo album on May 20 and the songs In The Darkness, Comes Around Again, Ship Of Fools and Long Shadow can be heard below.

While Illsley usually prefers not to go into too much detail about his lyrical content, he has explained the inspiration for the words on these four tracks. And he tackles everything from religious radicalisation, the Iraq war and internet porn to the influence of artists, politicians and modern celebrities.

On In The Darkness, Illsley was moved to write about the impact the digital age and the internet has, mostly with religious radicilisation and addictive, easy-to-access porn.

He says: "It's not really talked about much, but the influence of pornography over the internet... I think in the long term for a number of people it will cause serious psychological problems.

"I know a few people who are addicted to it. And if you're addicted to that stuff there's no agency you can turn to and say, 'I've got a problem.' We all get a bit blase about it actually. For 99% of people, they can take it or leave it. But there's a percentage for whom it becomes problematic." Read more and listen to the tracks here.