My Life Story - Mornington Crescent [Single]

All Music Guide

Slipping out as a limited-edition independent release and then getting an expansion and makeover for its re-release on EMI (ironically, at just about the time when the band was getting dropped from that label), Mornington Crescent finds Jake Shillingford and his crew creating an appropriately melodramatic slice of rich, romantic songs. Compared to Tindersticks, My Life Story is far more immediately florid and over the top, but the ace in the hole of the mini-orchestra as an integral part of the band more often than not results in some wonderful songs. About the only act at the time so equally in thrall to John Barry was Portishead, but My Life Story's more traditional take on pop music didn't so much push boundaries as re-start a long-trashed tradition. Shillingford's not the equal of his idols per se -- his plummy singing voice is enjoyable but couldn't touch Scott Walker, for instance -- but he brings both a passion and sly humor to the proceedings, and is no more or less outrageousl...y campy than Suede's Brett Anderson. His ear for the arrangements -- most of which he handled himself, a distinct difference from most rock/orchestral combinations of the '90s -- is excellent, while producer Pat Collier again demonstrates his fine sense of bringing the best out of a band to give them a distinctly U.K.-in-origin stamp. "Girl A, Girl B, Boy C," the single which preceded the album (and one of the few cuts arranged by Aaron Cahill instead), is a deserved high point, with a high-stepping chorus that is pure splashy power and a concluding slow burn with just enough sleaze (credit to Bill Mowbray's saxophone). The original take on "Sparkle" (aka "You Don't Sparkle [In My Eyes]") is another winner with a sparkling chorus. The re-release includes a slew of B-sides from the attendant singles plus appreciative liner notes from Cahill detailing the troubled birth of the original release. - Ned Raggett, All Music Guide Read more Less