Mike Skinner Trips Over His Words On His Way To Geezerdom

Our look at the closing lines of the biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to Everything Is Borrowed, the new album from the newly contemplative UK MC Mike Skinner’s proejct The Streets:

• “The Streets might have a happier, more positive outlook on the world, but it’s hard to share Skinner’s optimism: Even when you get on the same page as him and realize we’re all just bags of self-replicating DNA on a cold rock hurtling through space, it doesn’t help stave off the worldly worries of the day.” [Aversion]

• “Fortunately for Skinner, however, his increasing mastery of the pop hook–from laddish sing-alongs such as ‘Heaven for the Weather’ to soulful anthems such as ‘The Escapist’–makes this a highly listenable album, despite the high duh! quotient.” [Sunday Times]

• “Skinner’s still wrestling his party-animal dark side (‘Heaven for the Weather’) and trying to get laid (‘Never Give In’). But his vivid introspection recalls rap forefather Rakim, whose mind power and love of fish are echoed on ‘The Escapist,’ a lush soul jam about thinking your way past barriers. It’s English lit for the hoodie set.” [RS]

• “In the end, though, Everything Is Borrowed‘s musical high points aren’t enough to save it from its lyric sheet, and that, going forward, constitutes a real problem for Skinner. Given that he’s threatened repeatedly to retire the Streets after five full-length albums, it might be an issue he’s already well aware of. Either way, something’s got to give; another record of similarly hollow platitudes might be enough to undo his legacy.” [Pitchfork]

• “Fans of Skinner the man will want to give him a hug for all his hard-won serenity. Fans of his old work will miss things getting messy. A cannier move would have been to wrap up all this existential baggage in some euphoric pop music, as Roots Manuva’s recent record did. As it is, you can’t help but feel the Streets are on borrowed time.” [Guardian]