Twenty-five years since its release My Life Story are reissuing their classic album ‘Joined Up Talking’. 


A nostalgic glance back, delivered with fresh perspective, the brit-pop band’s third album has been lovingly remastered and will be released on vinyl for the first time ever this Autumn. Available on double coloured vinyl, there is also a 3xCD package on offer, full of B-Sides, rarities, and period gems.

Brimming with wit, ambition and unmistakable My Life Story flair, Joined Up Talking features the singles It’s a Girl Thing, Empire Line and Walk/Don’t Walk, plus the groundbreaking world’s first downloadable single If You Can’t Live Without Me Then Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?.

Self-produced with programming wiz Pete Gleadall at Parkgate Studios in 1999, the album has the feel of a millennium time capsule. References to Monica Lewinsky, Tamagotchis, Pret A Manger, the dot-com boom, and even megabytes of storage reflect the everyday vocabulary of the turn of the century with Shillingford’s typically irreverent style. 

Across album tracks like “The New New Yorker”, Shillingford stitches together topical newspaper headlines into surreal narratives, while “I Don’t Believe in Love” — originally written when Shillingford was 17 — reveals the band’s roots in classic songwriting traditions.

Building up to the release fans have enjoyed accessing a treasure trove of archive material from the era — digitised tapes, press cuttings and photos — which Jake has shared on his Patreon page.

My Life Story will also perform the album in full alongside a career-spanning “best of” set on special tour dates throughout December.