Camera Obscura Album: “My Maudlin Career”

An eagerly anticipated album for those of us who have overdone it listening to Let's Get out of This Country. More uptempo than its predecessor, maybe a bit more of a Country flavor here and there. Eloquent, sometimes playful songs of heartache, loss and lonliness. A nostalgic and dreamlike musical atmosphere brought about in part by classic use of reverb and a warm, retro organ sound. Wonderful.

I fell in love with this album just a few days ago. It's a gem. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that "French Navy" makes tears well up in my eyes. Each song shoots straight at my heart with a arrow dipped in a warm, sharp, bittersweet pool of magical poison. The sense of acoustic/physical space and the 'wall of sound' harken less to indie rock then to huge Phil Spector productions of the 1960s and 1970s. I'm especially reminded of George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass." Take the mixed tempos, gorgeous tones, and beautiful melodies, emotively sung and with just the right ornament over the just the right harmony, and you have pop music perfection.

BUT THIS RECORDING RIGHT NOW!

Camera Obscura are back. Working again with producer Jari Haapalainen. Picking up pretty much where they left off. Single "French Navy" starts in a dusty library, where Tracyanne Campbell sings "I was waiting to be struck by lightning/Waiting for somebody exciting/Like you." In the world of Camera Obscura, of course, love is impossible to control and you don't have to be called Lloyd to break somebody's heart. "The Sweetest Thing" is a girl-group ballad with a Scottish accent. Title track "My Maudlin Career" sounds like a throwback ("I'm not a child I know/We're not going steady...") to the classic "Teenager" from breakout album "Underachievers Please Try Harder" ("You're not a teenager/So don't act like one..."). It seems perhaps MY MAUDLIN CAREER is not about reflecting sentimentally on the career of global twee-pop superstars. It's about the folly of wishing and hoping in dusty libraries -- and the after effects of being struck by romantic lightning. Of course, being an international recording artist might come into play too. "Let's Get Out of the Country" may have been a great career move. But it means that former lovers are left behind in "Other Towns & Cities." Hotel rooms make a great place to get truly maudlin ("Drinking whisky reminds me of you... Who's holding you tonight?") The sun comes up again (in Mexico City) on bouncy final track "Honey in the Sun." If you enjoyed getting out of the country with these Glaswegians last time around, you'll be delighted to rejoin the band on its musical journey.

I have many of Camera Obscura's albums but I feel this one reaches a far greater audience, and is a fine mix of love struck ballads and fast paced catchy tunes: Honey in the Sun, The Sweetest Thing..simply lovely.

I've been a fan for some time and seen them live but I find the this and last CD a bit too depressingly toned for my taste. Also I am not loving the country influences and bear in mind I like Neko Case and her country vibes.

I do like the warm tones of the guitars and slight echo effects in the vocals and that is an improvement over their last CD.

It really is a personal taste issue so take this review with a grain of salt.

I loved their CD single from a few years ago called "I love my Jean" but that was the last time I _really_ liked what they were doing. YMMV.