When I think of Scotland I think of rain over grassy hills. Red haired lunatics toasting with flagons of ale and a youngish barmaid reciting Robert Burns. A good time spent indoors, maybe, but nothing quite like the grand-charming string-pop on Camera Obscura's My Maudlin Career.
The LP version benefits from the cover artwork (attributed to Julie Annis) being gigantic and beautiful, as well as permission to go on about my new vinyl. Just thought I'd mention that.
The opening track, "French Navy", is extremely catchy and uplifting. Singer Tracyanne Campbell weaves in a quick tale about love-- a theme continued in the rest of the album. Lyrics like "relationships were something I used to do / convince me they are better for me and you" keep it from being too tacky, even if the subject of love is a little hackneyed.
One of my favorite comments on the record is on "Swans": you want to be a writer / fantastic idea. Campbell keeps the love fresh with a nice dose of cynicism. In truth, half the time I'm wondering whether or not she's actually serious.
"Other Towns & Cities" features Campbell at her best, a sense of control and decisiveness not found in the other tracks. In an album of love songs the lyrics strike an ominous tone-- a relative minor to mostly major tunes ("you mean nothing to me tonight). Maybe I'm just a pessimist, but I like this the best.
Tough luck if you're stateside. Camera Obscura has a slew of Euro gigs coming up soon, however. Get a good look at them here.
Not that it all has to be about bottom lines, by the way-- and I believe that music is something that will always evade the objective red and green-- I'll probably be trading this LP in for another Zombies record, pretty watercolors or not. Ha! There I go again...
