The word on The Streets is… Mike Skinner is finally back! It’s time for your daily post!

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Sweet Victory! Good morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Mike Skinner is the brain behind the brawns of The Streets, his English rap act, who created his iconic debut album “Original Pirate Material” from 2002 on just his laptop in his bedroom. The album was a huge hit and Skinner has become a force to be reckoned with, releasing hit singles like “Dry Your Eyes” and “Fit But You Know It”. Known for his Garage sound and his anecdotal tracks storytelling the lives of working class British life, Skinner’s credited to be one of the best UK hip hop artists of all-time. I’ve always found his style to be a bit dull and monotonous for my tastes, but he’s decided to enlist the help of Tame Impala, who I really like, for a new single entitled “Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better”. The single will be released on Skinner’s mixtape “None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Alive”, which comes out on July 10th on Island Records. Let’s listen to it below.

Directed by Mike Skinner, the social-distancing inspired video for “Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better” lets us see Skinner trapped in the mountains and calling his friend, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, for help. It lyrically encapsulates with Skinner and Parker rapping and singing about their social distance with missed opportunities. Skinner raps: “The phone is ringing/Can’t use it till’ it stops/I moan and listen, the tone emits/The only man in black/hi-viz jackets in the Cab”, over a shuffling synth backing beat at a rhythmic pace that feels reminiscent of old-school Streets. Tame Impala comes in at a breakneck pace as the rap bars draw out to a hazy synth line wash and a reverberated vocal delivery: “I was gonna call you back, I swear/Just as soon as I felt up to it/It just hasn’t happened yet/And I’m still gonna call you back one day” with the electronic instrumentation creating a slight tinge of Psychedelia, as you’d come to expect from Tame Impala. The lyricism is strong and immediate with plenty of references to the Covid-19 situation. The funky, experimental rap verses are catchy and the drumming sequences give it more depth. Weirdly, I would usually not like The Streets and like Tame Impala but oddly enough, it’s the other way around with this. Skinner’s rap verses feel melodic and traditional, whereas the Tame Impala sections feel strange and out-of-place, as Skinner creates Baritone Garage melodies whereas Parker creates a vocal sample that sounds processed and clunky as if he’s going back to his music. It makes the track feel uneven and disjointed in the execution of the genres that it explores. Overall, there are good elements in the track, but it just doesn’t quite work. Skinner’s vocals are quite good, but the Tame Impala sections sound bizzare. Let’s hope this track doesn’t keep “ringing” about in my head.

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Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at a brand new single from an emerging punk band who are from New York and released their debut EP “Distance Is A Mirror” on Wharf Cat Records last November. Please stay inside, don’t do anything silly and keep washing your hands! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime