Skinner began his career painting scenes from a very specific time and place (namely, South London circa 2000), but now his songs have the ring of tall tales culled from an old book of folklore. “Alleged Legends,” “On the Edge of a Cliff,” and “On the Flip of a Coin” are more like parables than pop songs. In his existential wanderings Skinner borders on ponderousness, but his songs are always saved by guile and ambiguity. The album was recorded almost entirely with live instruments, and features recurring references to natural settings: the forest, the coastline, the sea.
While Original Pirate Material found Mike Skinner describing his local identity and A Grand Don’t Come For Free and The Hardest Way to Make An Easy Living recorded his tumultuous rise to fame and fortune, Everything Is Borrowed searches for Skinner’s place in the world.
