Listen

TRACK: The Escapist

WHO: Mr Mike Skinner, the rapper laureate.

WHAT: A tasty teaser for lil’ Mickey’s forthcoming album Everything Is Borrowed.

THE HYPE: The Escapist continues the Streets' departure from the 8-bit grime sonics of his 2002 debut, Original Pirate Material, by featuring sparkling production and sighing, slightly dub-flecked orchestral instrumentation that wouldn't be out of place on the next Lily Allen longplayer.” - Spin

WE SAY: After initially hosting this track on his myspace page, Mr Michael Streets has decided that you ToTD readers haven’t had enough of all that free grade-A downloads from the likes of The Go! Team, Coldplay, The Kings Of Leon and that, and that he should let you have The Escapist for free too.

Having gone through the cathartic disappointment of The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living, his new album, Everything…, sees Skinner digging deep to win back his critical gold stars that feel down the back of his sofa.

The Escapist really is a hard one to call – recalling much of his more sombre tracks, it has a languid, unhurried feel, which although erring on the side of slightly unspecific, it does kinda suit the vibe of the track. Affirming his position as one of the smarter urban lyricists, Escapist offers a sketchy narrative of a life more fulfilling than the one we’re trapped in, of the dreaming of a way out of a humdrum situation: “I’m not trapped in a box, I’m dancing on docks,” he tells us. Dreamy it most definitely is – like in a feverish haze, phrases drift in and sentences hang in the air, made all the more hallucinatory by Mike’s odd stoccato delivery.

A reflectively poetic affair that sees the light at the end of the tunnel – has The Streets gone all grown up on us?

IF YOU ONLY NEED TO KNOW ONE THING: You can clock the video here . Just as evasive as the track itself, we get to see the back of Mike’s head as he walks, and walks, and walks from England to France.

WHERE CAN I GET MY HANDS ON IT: The Escapist is available now as a free download from http://www.myfreedownload.co.uk/thestreets

FIND MORE: www.myspace.com/thestreets

Explore Music

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of 2009
• The 100 Worst Movies of 2009
• The 100 Best Films of the Decade