release date: July 10, 2020
format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Mike Skinner
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Call My Phone Thinking I'm Doing Nothing Better (ft. Tame Impala)" - 2. "None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive (ft. Idles)" - 3. "I Wish You Loved You as Much as You Love Him (ft. Greentea Peng & Donae'o)" - 5. "I Know Something You Did (ft. Jesse James Solomon & Eliza)" - 8. "The Poison I Take Hoping You Will Suffer (ft. Oscar #Worldpeace)" - 10. "Falling Down (ft. Hak Baker)"
Mixtape album by The Streets, aka Mike Skinner, following nine years after Computers and Blues (Feb. 2011), and then also following the 2017 rebirth of his most distinct music project, which saw him on a world tour performing the best of The Streets after years away from the brightest spotlight. The album is not described as a new studio album but merely a mixtape - perhaps to avoid too strong expectations and then again: every song on the album has been made with a featuring artist, which in a way, and only on a surface, makes the songs highly individual, though they all have Skinner's characteristic beats putting them quite close to one another.
First impression was that of a bland experience, which had me thinking of his 2011 mixtape Cyberspace and Reds, but then after some time, I think this is bettering that, although, it's clearly not one of his best albums with a bunch of great tunes sticking out. The biggest issue here is a clear connection to his earlier rhymes and beats, where you end up thinking 'Ah, that's close to the rhyming on...', or beats reminding you of former songs - bits and pieces, here and there, making it a bit of a strange listen. Best thing about it is that Skinner is back making music as The Streets, and hopefully he will soon be releasing an actual follow-up to his 2011 studio album.
