The Streets, Everything Is Borrowed

Official Release Date: October 7

The Verdict: When last we heard from Mike Skinner, he was coming to grips with his celebrity on 2005's intermittently awesome The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, enjoying life as a famous asshole while cursing himself for it. We should've known that wouldn't end well! On Everything Is Borrowed (which leaked yesterday), he's in post-crisis mode, droning about existentialism ("The Escapist"), delivering a semi-nauseating sermon on depression ("On the Edge of a Cliff"), and worrying about the apocalypse ("The Way of the Dodo"). Skinner's still a smart, nimble lyricist, but choruses are few, and the lame, too slow beats don't do his skittish flow any favors. Additionally, middling love ballad "The Strongest Person I Know" features the unironic accompaniment of a harp and soprano sax. Needless to say, we liked him better as an asshole.