Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 10/04/06
Label: 679 Recordings

The narrative arc for albums has long been set in stone. First record: young, idealistic, bursting with ambition and energy. Second record: slightly more mature, more expansive, the artist's talent given room and money to grow. Third record: burn out, songs about being on tour and hotel rooms, either a sorry retread of past glories or a magnum opus, fuelled by arrogance, cocaine, and a ton of self-hatred. Most artists are well-aware of the pitfalls of the difficult third album, of course, and try to disguise their on tour / hotel room songs - but when has Mike Skinner ever been most artists?

Album three concludes with Skinner throwing a rock star tantrum onstage in Belgium and ending up back in London, numb and broken. Like every good time time-lapse movie, the story then continues with track one, where we find Skinner shovelling cocaine (or prang as he calls it) up his nose and being punched out by his manager for being a waste of oxygen. He's in the midst of classic rock star burn out - off his face in the morning, plagued by headaches and self-doubt, a scared groupie in his bed. "This time I'm dryin' my eyes and a f*cking nosebleed." It's brutal, brilliant stuff.

Given the wealth of possible source material, you'd forgive Skinner for making another concept album, this time about fame. "Hotel Expressionism" is the 21st century take on the hotel room rock song, and "When You Wasn't Famous" posts a hilarious everyman dispatch from the heart of the circus, but Skinner can't stop his playful, astute talent from skipping onto other topics. Honesty between the sexes crops up in a couple of songs, and "Can't Con An Honest Jon" charts an unlikely, but supremely entertaining con involving a barman and a dog that suggests that Skinner really should pen a movie script some time soon.

The best songs on the album, though, are the most directly personal, either those that deal directly with his own burn out or stand face-to-face with mortality. "Momento Mori" combines the two, pitting consumerism against the human condition, with Skinner spending his way through success ("If love is blind then why do we all buy lingerie?"). And "Never Went To Church" is the record's clear highlight, a quietly honest tribute to Skinner's late father that will bring a tear to your eye. It's rich with tiny details and snapshot memories, and when Skinner says "I hope I made you proud" to his dad, he hits the switch every songwriter aims for and misses by a mile.

Where next for the man they call The Streets? After this, anywhere he likes.

    by Ian Watson