Mike Skinner needs a break. I'm talking about a month in a desert/up a mountain/even a couple of hours in a quiet field kind of break. Not that he's been killing himself writing new material for this his third album - rather that he's been left jaded since sidestepping from obscurity into the world of celebrity; all that 'prang' and banging random 'lambs' has left him well f*cked, oi. Lasting all of 37 minutes (although it truly does feel longer) this album offers us sage advice on a number of subjects ranging from ransacking hotels in a non cliched fashion, to conning bar men with the aid of a dog, getting a 'lamb' to notice you, to fending off the wiles of another 'lamb' and thus averting the dreaded "man's burden". I smiled at the use of the term man 'cause Skinner appears to have regressed since his debut album; a cluster of anthemic nostalgic recounts that spoke to those poking their heads out of the 90s for the first time. Some of us have progressed and evidently some haven't. This feels like an electronica hip hop demo tape with cumbersome, ill flowing rhymes, with tracks Hardest Way to Make a Living and Two Nations being prime examples. If he was trying to convey toil in the title track - job well done. There was no reason to lump Two Nations with the same lot however, a shame - it is one of the few musically engaging tracks. The lyrics and music are hollow on the whole. The only time he nails it is with one line in Never Went to Church. You'll know the one I mean. As powerful as it is, one stunning line doesn't an album make. Other lyrics such as "I've got nothing in my life away from the studio", "we need to sell some records soon", and "I make these crap rap rhymes to pay the hotel bills that fund my passion", littered with repeated references to being reprimanded by his manager whilst constantly urging the listener to keep listening, all suggest that this was not a labour of love, or even marginal interest, but an infliction made under duress. Although the people who've just sent it to number one in the album charts will no doubt state otherwise.