Everything Is Borrowed

While Original Pirate Material found Mike Skinner describing his local identity and A Grand Don’t Come For Free and The Hardest Way to Make An Easy Living recorded his tumultuous rise to fame and fortune, Everything Is Borrowed searches for Skinner’s place in the world. The album was recorded almost entirely with live instruments, and features recurring references to natural settings: the forest, the coastline, the sea. In his existential wanderings Skinner borders on ponderousness, but his songs are always saved by guile and ambiguity. “Alleged Legends,” “On the Edge of a Cliff,” and “On the Flip of a Coin” are more like parables than pop songs. Skinner began his career painting scenes from a very specific time and place (namely, South London circa 2000), but now his songs have the ring of tall tales culled from an old book of folklore. These tales are illuminated by a diverse set of tracks; from the claustrophobic tick of “Never Give In” to the stilted funk of “The Sherry End” and pastoral strumming of “The Strongest Person I Know,” the music here shows the most imagination of any of Skinner’s work to date. The Streets has become more mysterious, and perhaps less accessible, but Skinner’s journey becomes more fascinating with each passing year.