Mike Skinner had already established himself as one of the most exciting new artists of the 21st century with The Streets’ 2002 debut Original Pirate Material, a record that blended UK garage, lo-fi hip-hop beats and pulsing synths with entertaining, heavily-stoned tales of life in your twenties in early 00s Britain, but everything went up a notch with his ambitious 2004 follow-up A Grand Don’t Come For Free.
The record’s biggest track (but not its best – that’s Blinded By The Lights or Empty Cans, surely?) was the stirring break-up ballad Dry Your Eyes, a song that hit the top-spot of the UK charts 20 years ago this week. Its doleful chorus was delivered by Matt Sladen, with the singer-songwriter’s version picked over a take from Coldplay’s Chris Martin. In an interview at the time, Martin said he was the one pushing the idea that his voice didn’t work on the track.
