The Streets - Everything is Borrowed

Rating:

* * *

Not only did Mike Skinner go tragically off track on 2006's

The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living

by bleating on about the perils of becoming famous (oh, the poor chap) but his innovative musical approach first realised on 2002 debut

Original Pirate Material

derailed too.

The good news is, with fourth album

Everything Is Borrowed

, the likeable geezer is back. There's even moves to push things forward on

The Way Of the Dodo

, with its single panicky house beat, instruments that creak rather than play, and his futuristic philosphising over the top.

Overall, Skinner comes across less annoying from a musical perspective and his geezer rap isn't as abrasive as in the recent past. He even tries singing on

The Sherry End

, which makes you wonder if he's been on the sherry. That song has hints of bass-driven modern soul, like Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, crossed with crazier jazz moments similar to Herbie Hancock's

Headhunters

madness in the early 70s, and outbursts of psychedelic rock.

And there's more touching and laid-back moments, like the catchy French-inspired sweetness of

On the Flip of a Coin

, and the Groovejet-chink of

Never Give In

shows Skinner has found out that sometimes minimal means more.

Those turned off by the last album should give the geezer another go.

Scott Kara