Friday 8 May 2009

Camera Obscura



The Scottish band Camera Obscura released the album Let's Get Out of This Country in 2006. This is one of the few flawless indie pop albums currently out on the market, and so is definitely worth a closer look. Camera Obscura epitomised the revival of bands that sound like 1950's and 1960's pop groups by means of employing instruments one would associate with bands like the Shirelles (Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?), including the slow drum sequences famously pioneered by the Ronettes (Be My Baby), organ-like music, tambourines, and so forth.

Camera Obscura is not to be confused with the Swedish band the Concretes, despite head vocalists Tracyanne Campbell (Camera Obscura) and Victoria Bergsman (the Concretes) looking like twins and having identical voices.

Victoria Bergsman

Tracyanne Campbell

Highlights:
  • Razzle Dazzle Rose: This is the song showcasing the musical talent of the band. While less publicised than the other songs of the album, it shows technical skill beyond simple pop bands. The incorporation of trumpet play is startlingly effective with long interludes of trumpet solos. The song title is cute and based on a very particular Crayon colour we all used as children. The mellow, nostalgic mood of the song is chilling. No one does indie pop like Camera Obscura.

  • The False Contender: Cute mellow pop song about lost love. The keyboard play in the song is brilliant as it recreates that mood of ancienity and lost youth which Camera Obscura frequently refer to.

I once had a love, but soon had enough
For he was the false contender
He got so thin, there must have been
Deep sorrow gnawing away at him


  • Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken: Aimed at musician Lloyd Cole as a reference to his 1984 hit Are you ready to be heartbroken, you might not find heartache as enchanting as this anywhere else. This is the pop song of the album, with Tracyanne mellowly singing about the sorrows of breaking up.

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