THE STREETS – Mike Skinner has offered fans the first taste of his long-awaited mixtape in the form of single ‘Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better ft. Tame Impala.’ The song, which premiered today via Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1, tees up None of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive, available 10 July on Island Records. The 12-track mixtape marks The streets’ first album in nearly a decade and features collaborations with the likes of IDLES, Hak Baker, Ms. Banks and many more.
The timely video for ‘Call My Phone Thinking I’m doing Nothing Better’ opens with Skinner on an old-school mobile phone, with the words “Social Distancing” coming up on the rudimentary screen’s display. As Skinner traverse a deserted ski resort, he attempts to call his friend, Kevin Parker, of Tame Impala.
Parker meanwhile appears to be holed up sunny Los Angeles as he sings, “I was gonna call you back, I swear”. Skinner then tees up calls with all of the other collaborators on his mixtape – including DonaéO, Ms. Banks, Kasien and Dapz on the Map.
The video serves as an inspired announcement for None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive, which marks the seventh full-length release from The Streets, following 2011’s Computers And Blues. According to the official announcement, Skinner initially set out to record a new TONGA record-his supergroup project with rap collective Murkage.
Instead, he began recording with an eclectic collection of artists, including the Mercury Prize-nominated punk group IDLES, teenage wünderkind Jimothy Lacoste and Birmingham legend, Dapz On The Map.
In an official statement, the Birmingham-based Skinner shared that one of the biggest themes on his mixtape revolves around communication (or lack thereof) in this overly-connected modern world. “One thing I’ve ended up doing is talking about being on my phone”, he said.
“It was very easy on my first album to say, well: where am I? I’m in a pub. I’m at home. I’m in a betting shop. I’m getting a Kebab. It felt fairly straight forward and no one had really written about it. Whereas when making this record, everything now basically happens on your phone.”
Skinner first burst onto the scene with The Streets ‘ critically-acclaimed 2002 debut, Original Pirate Material. The best-selling album received a Mercury prize nomination, and well as multiple nods at the Brits. It is widely regarded as one of the most influential British albums of the decade.
None of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive is out 10 July On Island Records.
- Waiting For It To Stop (ft. Tame Impala)
- None of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive (ft. IDLES)
- I wish you loved you as much as you love him (ft. DonaéO and Greentea Peng)
- You Can’t Afford Me (ft. Ms. Banks)
- know something you Did (ft. Jesse James Solomon)
- Eskimo Ice (ft. Kasien)
- Phone Is Always In My Hand (ft. Dapz on the Map)
- The poison I Take Hoping you will Suffer (ft. Oscar #Worldpeace)
- Same Direction (ft. Jimothy Lacoste)
- Falling Down (ft. Hak Baker)
- Conspiracy Theory Freestyle (ft. Rob Harvey)
- Take Me As I Am (with Chris Lorenzo)
