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The Glaswegian outfit's loyal fanbase have had a three year wait for this project; three years in which they put in a considerable effort satisfying the live yearnings of their dominating worldwide faithful. Quite why the overseas audience have always got Camera Obscura, while their native music fan needed 'retro pop' waved in their faces via the dubious tabloid outings of beehived and sailor-suited divas is a mystery. Thankfully, respected label 4AD have gone some way to making up for British apathy by signing up the band for the release of My Maudlin Career.
Jari Haapalainen is back for his second outing with the band, building on the dense production introduced on their third album Let's Get Out Of This Country. Moving further away from jaunty folk pop and embracing lush balladry, this collection sounds more Mazzy Star than The Concretes, doused with the expected references to the middle decades of the last century. Single French Navy is 60s pop with strings, and a vocal echo that lends itself so well to Tracyanne Campbell's voice, sending it ethereal.
The overall tone is more reflective than on every other Camera Obscura project, and perhaps too maudlin around You Told A Lie and Away With Murder. The following Swans, with a great opening hook and nursery rhyme feel is more typical of the feelgood If Looks Could Kill. Their dance-along, big beat specialities have always been where Camera Obscura flourish, and they wrap up with the album's other stonker Honey In The Sun.
With each album, Camera Obscura offer just enough tangible difference, without compromising their cuteness or charm. From this example, the potential presents itself for a total evolution - away from country, folk, retro and pop and toward epic soundscape. The possibilities are endless and exciting. --Keira Burgess
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Tracyanne Campbell is a genius. I have been trying to ponder why. It is because her lyrics are serious - deadly serious - and yet also humourous. To my mind she stands equal to only two other great writers: Morrissey and Mark E Smith. They all have this talent for writing lyrics that combine tragedy and comedy, which requires incredible subtlety, intelligence and 'class'. Otherwise the result is cack-handed naffness. It is very difficult to explain this to people who don't get it. The Fall described it perfectly in Shiftwork (1991) as 'the war against intelligence'. In the eighties, people used to describe the Smiths as 'boring' or 'depressing' because they did not understand songs like 'Girlfriend in a coma' or 'Heaven knows I'm miserable now'. Tracyanne writes lyrics like: 'There are flowers in my house, I bought them myself' (Swans). As Morrissey said 'I know, its really serious'.
If you like My Maudlin Career, I would urge you to check out their other classic albums 'Underachievers please try harder' and 'Let's get out of this country'.
Hats off to the Scottish Arts Council for supporting the band; government money well spent. If only they would give £10 billion quid to Camera Obscura instead of Royal Bank of Scotland. The world would be a better place.
Downloaded Tears for Affairs and loved that too. Read more
This is my third Camera Obscura album purchase and
all of them have been good so far. Read more
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