With the new album set to drop next Tuesday, we hit up Skinner to get a preview of what to expect, plus his plans for the future. Retirement is on his mind, sort of. But not just yet as he is already working on his last release, which will bring fans back to the rave-friendly, detail-oriented MC we first came to know. Get a sense of where Mike Skinner is in his life in the exclusive interview below…

Interview by Richard “DJ Treats” Dryden

Complex: Since all of your albums are different in nature, from the production to the lyrical content, what stays the same?

Mike: Well, the process stays the same because it’s always me in a room trying to write songs. And the same in the sense that it’s just me trying to make a change. But apart from that I try to keep it as fresh as possible. Almost that it appears as if I’m a new artist, you know?

Complex: Really?

Mike: Almost, yeah. I think that’s the only way to stay in the game really. I think when you start repeating yourself you don’t have the same impact.

Complex: Do you think that’s the same ideology as trying to “reinvent yourself?”

Mike: Yeah, I think it’s just a balance between the two things. I think you have your strong points, you should play to those.

Complex: What would you say are your strong points that you’ve thrived on throughout your career?

Mike: I think emotional honesty is a strong point. I’m certainly not a gangster.

Complex: Not a gangster?

Mike: Not a very good gangster. [Laughs]

Complex: You’ve been recording a lot of webisodes through your Beat Stevie YouTube channel. Do you think documenting so much of your recording kind of takes away from the personal stamp you’re trying to put on your music?

Mike: I think all of the other things that you do, apart from the music, become a part of the politics. Like I don’t think you can separate music from the person. And people’s impression of the person goes into the experience that they have with the music. And that’s what I call the politics of music. It’s kind of a story that you create in your head, but I don’t believe in shrouding anything in mystery so to speak. I think actually the music ends up transcending the politics over time. I think when the next generation looks back on this, they’re not so caught up in the moment of the politics.

Complex: So it does make it more personal?

Mike: In a way, but to me, I’m really into stories. Really, to me, Beat Stevie is another way to tell stories, and the blogs I write. I think if you only watched Beat Stevie you’d think it wasn’t very deep, and there’s a lot of joking. But if you only read my blog or listened to my music, I think it all really adds up to who I am. I don’t think it’s any different from the countless TV interviews that artists used to do on MTV. It’s a little different in this case because we get to control it ourselves.

Hit “NEXT” to learn more about the Everything Is Borrowed album, and to get Mike’s thoughts on The Dark Knight…”

But after an album full of Skinner’s struggles with fame, he’s taking a decidedly different approach on his fourth release, Everything Is Borrowed'his goal was to make an album where he doesn’t make any references to “modern life,” which has always been his focus. The album’s first clip for the single “The Escapist” also takes a totally new approach to the music video format, following Skinner as he walks alone all the way from London to Paris. Watch the video below.

[Stereogum]