The DOT, ‘Diary’

At what point does a blip become a rut?

At what point does a blip become a rut? The question seems pertinent on The DOT’s second album when you start thinking back to when Mike Skinner last made a good record. A second LP from his project with The Music’s Robert Harvey is hardly here by popular demand, and The Streets’ era-defining first two albums were subsequently followed by three hugely questionable efforts. ‘Diary’, however, is easily the worst thing Skinner has ever released. Poorly produced, throwaway songs like ‘Makers Mark’ and ‘Most Of My Time’ sound like demos, or leftovers from their hugely disappointing 2012 debut album ‘And That’. If Skinner is coasting on production duties, then Harvey is overcompensating on the vocals. Never the smoothest of singers, his shrill tones grate on ‘How We All Lie’ and the borderline unlistenable ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears’. Things are summed up perfectly on ‘Don’t Look At The Road’ when Harvey sings, “Just because you’re talking doesn’t mean I have to listen”.

David Renshaw

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