Not long after the release of 2011's underrated
Computers and Blues,
Mike Skinner capped off a remarkable decade of work by retiring his influential British rap project
the Streets and succumbing to the softer dramas of life as a family man. He kept his finger on the pulse mentoring younger acts, running a label, and playing the occasional DJ set, but aside from a couple of collaborations with
Rob Harvey as part of
the D.O.T., it seemed like his last rant on laddism and the absurd mundanities and trials of U.K. life had been made. Then, seemingly out of the blue, a pair of
Streets tracks dropped online at the end of 2017, marked of course by the familiar Clipper lighter that became the band's visual icon. As the floodgates opened and more new material followed, it was clear
Skinner was building up to a legitimate comeback.
Released in July 2020,
None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive is
the Streets' first long-form release in nine years. Billed as a mixtape rather than an LP, the highly collaborative 12-song set plays less conceptually than most of the first-wave
Streets outings with
Skinner swapping partners on every single track. He re-enters Britain's musical landscape not as the club-culture lad-informant of his twenties but as an early-middle-aged rapper with a different set of concerns whose still-innovative productions are bolstered by current stars from the generation that he himself influenced. Although the debauchery of youth may be diminished by fatherhood,
Skinner is still neurotically wrapped up in the intricate details of his social existence, phone ever in hand; two songs -- the
Tame Impala-assisted "Call My Phone Thinking I'm Doing Nothing Better" and "Phone Is Always In My Hand" featuring
Dapz on the Map -- are devoted entirely to smartphone culture and both are excellent. Other highlights include the sprightly "I Wish You Loved You as Much as You Loved Him," a mix of classic
Streets melodicism and homemade grit with strong guest spots from
Donae'o and
Greentea Peng, and the
Hak Baker collaboration "Falling Down." His showcasing of youthful talent is well-chosen and adds a freshness to the production that blends a raw D.I.Y. aesthetic and left-field beats with the oddly sweet cascading piano lines and charmingly singsong hooks that
Skinner made his career on. While not quite on par with his best work, it is nonetheless a welcome and surprisingly fun return by one of Britain's great voices who has lost none of his wit and panache. ~ Timothy Monger
![Pre-Millennium Tension [Expanded Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5013929168237_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Pre-Millennium Tension [Expanded Edition]")
