Camera Obscura

 Camera Obscura- My Maudlin Career
 8/10

Rising from the doldrums that saw their previous album Let’s Get Out Of This Country fall into a dark black hole, Camera Obscura returns with their fourth studio album which is a much more chirpy affair. Lead singer Tracyanne Campbell’s voice is delightful, styled somewhere between a young Mama Cass or more recently, Swedish vocal siren Victoria Bergsman. With an essence of classical beauty, her voice has been waiting to be showcased in this fashion, something previous Camera Obscura records failed at. My Maudlin Career is the record that finally puts Campbell among music’s elite female vocalists. But while it’s easy to praise Campbell for her contribution, the band as a whole has created a more complex album. With dense orchestral arrangements scattered in a flower bed alongside simple pop instrumentation, the band has crossed the time barrier, bringing together elements of 1950s singer/songwriters, ’70s flower power and contemporary indie-folk music. No song displays this fusion better than opening track ‘French Navy’, a perfect pop song surrounded by big-beat drumming and a wonderful orchestral melody. ‘You Told A Lie’ is Campbell at her magnificent best; a bubblegum pop song with a catchy chorus that floats effortlessly along in a breeze. On ‘Swans’ Camera Obscura strips back the classical instruments in search of a more contemporary rock vibe, resulting in a sound similar to Swedish band The Concretes. The album then waltzes through several dreamy love songs (’James’, ‘Careless Love’) before bursting open with a mild scuzzy guitar line on title track ‘My Maudlin Career’. My Maudlin Career definitely marks a new milestone for Camera Obscura, and while it sees an end to full-time band commitment for trumpet/percussionist Nigel Baillie, who is now a proud dad, it often takes a change in band structure to redirect the overall focus. It’s worked for them here and long may it continue.
Nick