None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive

「イギリス版エミネム」とも評されるMike Skinnerのプロジェクトによる9年ぶりの新作アルバム!

UKファンキーとトワイライトゾーンのUKラップを取り入れ、グラミー賞にノミネートされたサイケデリアの宗主であるTame Impala、南ロンドンのカルト的なラッパーJesse James、そして2019年のキーフィンドに優しいドラムンベースとChris Lorenzoとのコラボなど数多くのゲストを迎えた本作は、これまでのThe Streetsからの楽曲の中で最も折衷的で高度にコラボレートされたコレクションとなっている。

Not long after the release of 2011s 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 bands 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 Britains 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 Im 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 Donaeo 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 Britains great voices who has lost none of his wit and panache. ~ Timothy Monger

ロブ・ハーヴェイ(元ミュージック)とのD.O.T.結成を経て、2017年にストリーツ名義の活動を再開していたマイク・スキナーが、ミックステープ扱いながらも2011年の『Computers And Blues』以来となる楽曲集を投下。アイドルズを招いた表題曲やテーム・インパラとの"Waiting For It To Stop"、他にも期待株ミス・バンクスら多方面とのリンクをコンパイルした作りはミックステープらしいところで、近年のUKラップの盛り上がりやUKG復権とも自然にシンクロする芯の太さがやはり頼もしい。クリス・ロレンゾとのドラムンベース"Take Me As I Am"やドネイオらとのバンピンなガラージ"I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Loved Him"など、往時を連想させる快速のダンス・トラックが却って新鮮だ。
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