My Life Story at The Lexington, Islington.

24/07/2019.

By Andy Rawll

A welcome return for Jake Shillingford and his grand, autobiographical brand of chamber pop, where lush arrangements embellish uplifting melodies, heightened by playful and evocative lyrics. Emerging during the Brit Pop era, with three successful albums and six top forty singles, the band combined the allure of Blur, the quirk of The Divine Comedy and the groove of Pulp and garnered three successful albums and six top forty singles in the 1990s.

'World Citizen', their first album in almost twenty years (Exilophone Records 6/9/19,) touts a slightly harder-edged sound and the declared theme of "searching for personal truth in a world full of lies", encapsulated by acerbic closing track '#NoFilter'. Yet, the supreme, epic pop of yore remains, with 'Telescope Moonlight Boy' a charming early highlight of the set and new single (7/7/19) 'Taking on the world' a jangling anthem of pop perfection.

1993's audaciously orchestrated debut single 'Girl A, Girl B, Boy C (originally produced by Giles Martin) might sound like Damon Albarn performing a James Bond theme and the brilliant 'Sparkle' is like Javis Cocker fronting Duran Duran, but both remain exquisitely constructed Britpop masterpieces which still sounded vital and fresh over twenty years on. The undoubted highlight was '12 reasons why I love her', full of 'Jake goes to Marrakesh' eastern promise, which had the packed room leading the vociferous countdown. An overdue and very welcome return for an enduring, uplifting talent.

Album launch event: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/events/rough-trade-east-my-life-story (10/9/19 - Rough Trade East)

UK Tour: https://mylifestory.band/tour (2/11/19 - 1/12/19)
New single: 'Taking on the world': https://open.spotify.com/album/1R4C2YzWKOEXhneSZ57zxh

MEDIA ARCHIVE:

Video: 'Sparkle': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoXH4fKKSwc

Video: '12 reasons why I love her': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz1W9EWTdVYAudio: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3veCPp8rK1z3KSwQQcxzRC