As MY LIFE STORY gear-up for the release of their first album in five years, today (15 January) they are pleased to share its electrifying opening track: “Running Out Of Heartbeats”.
Mixed by Ben Hillier, who has notably produced a number of Depeche Mode albums, this exhilarating, electronica-skewered anthem pulses and whirrs with a kindred mechanised groove and futuristic sheen.
Inspired by a quote from astronaut Neil Armstrong, new single “Running Out Of Heartbeats” finds chief songwriter Jake Shillingford in a philosophical mood and theorising on how love, life, and how we live it, could be playing with our human hearts and our overall longevity.
As Shillingford explains of the track:
“On returning from the moon and on his withdrawal from public life Neil Armstrong allegedly said: ‘I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine’. Finite Heartbeat Theory suggests we get roughly 2.5 billion beats throughout our lives. I wanted to explore if we can put a value on each heartbeat. Do we lose more through the palpitations of love, or leading a dynamic life? Or are we wasting our heartbeats by taking the easy life?”
Pairing lyrics laced with an ebullient, uncontainable sense of discovery, and arrangements that glisten with a fresh feeling of unlimited possibility; “Running Out Of Heartbeats” is evidence of a band who five albums and over three decades into their career still believe the sky’s the limit.
“Running Out Of Heartbeats” will feature alongside fellow singles “Numb Numb Numb”, “Tits & Attitude” and “I’m A God”, on upcoming album ‘Loving You Is Killing Me’ (out 9th February, via Exilophone Records/Republic Of Music), alongside six brand new tracks.
‘Loving You Is Killing Me’, follows the release of MLS’ last critically acclaimed album ‘World Citizen’, which was released in 2019 and their first for some 19 years. The new album discusses themes of empathy, profaneness, vaingloriousness, coercive behaviour and naturism. With the upcoming record taking its title from the current single, frontman Jake Shillingford says:
“Loving You is Killing Me is a lyric taken from the album’s opening track ‘Running Out of Heartbeats’. Despite its pessimistic inference, I like to think that it’s more generally about investment in relationships. Is there a price to pay for unconditional love?”
The record, published by Mute Song, has been written and produced by Jake alongside Nick Evans and mixed by Ben Hillier (Blur, Patrick Wolf, Nadine Shah, Peter Perrett, Depeche Mode). The full track listing for ‘Loving You Is Killing Me’ is as follows:
1. Running Out of Heartbeats 6. Naked
2. I'm a God 7. B-side Girl
3. Numb Numb Numb 8. Identity Crisis
4. Tits & Attitude 9. The Urban Mountaineer
5. Bubblewrap 10. Wasted
