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The Camera Obscura from Glasgow offer a retro-flavored pop style similar to fellow Glaswegians Belle and Sebastian. The sextet entrusts its compositions to the melancholic voice of Tracyanne Campbell, a signature of the group's sound, along with a background organ and a guitar that supports the melodies with its phrases. "Let's Get Out Of This Country", an album released in 2006, is recorded and mixed to sound like a late '60s record; it’s not just the use of keyboards that gives this impression but also the guitar effects and Tracyanne's distant voice.
Earlier, I mentioned the similarity to Belle and Sebastian, particularly the early albums. However, it must be noted that Camera Obscura sounds like a more melancholic and bucolic version (also due to the recording quality); both groups share a passion for '60s English and American pop and the attitude to tell stories and make their cultural references evident ("Dory Previn" is dedicated to the American poet and singer). The lyrics of "Let's Get Out Of This Country", however, tend to be rather monotonous. Melancholy overflows, mostly telling stories of love affairs that have ended or never begun ("Dory Previn", "The False Contender", "Tears For Affair"), or hopes of starting a new love story ("Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken"). The lyrics are predominantly contemplative ("Country Mile") and as such, they go hand in hand with the music; it is interesting then, to note that the musically more lively songs, with hints towards American surf rock, are also the ones with more proactive rather than contemplative lyrics, as is the case for "Lloyd I'm Ready..." or for the track that gives the album its title, a song that describes the desire to escape from the suburbs, which together with the subsequent "Country Mile" constitutes a sort of diptych about departure (not about escape, the second track is set in Sweden, where the work was recorded by the group).
The group's tracks differ from one another while still having common characteristics, and this is a sign of maturity for the group that has released several EPs and three albums. The group doesn't indulge in refinement of arrangement or execution skill; its stylistic hallmark is a calm mediocrity where both slower and faster songs harmonize.Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken (03:48)
He said “I’ll protect you like you are the crown jewels” yet
Said he’s feeling sorrier for me the more I behave badly
I can bet
Hey Lloyd I’m ready to be heartbroken
I can’t see further than my own nose at the moment
Jealousy is more than a word now I understand
I know you can stay a girl by holding a boy’s hand
Hey Lloyd I’m ready to be heartbroken
I can’t see further than my own nose at the moment
Hey Lloyd I’m ready to be heartbroken
I can’t see further than my own nose at the moment
I’ve got my life of complication here to sort out
I’ll take myself to an east coast city and walk about
Hey Lloyd I’m ready to be heartbroken
I can’t see further than my own nose at the moment
Hey Lloyd I’m ready to be heartbroken
I can’t see further than my own nose at the moment
Hey Lloyd I’m ready to be heartbroken
I can’t see further than my own nose at the moment
02 Tears for Affairs (04:03)
Shedding tears for affairs
I'm a funny little thing
I can tell you this for nothing
Affairs don't win
Can you handle one more dirty secret one more dirty night?
Is it true what they say?
Will it make us go blind?
You had to drive
Look me in the eye
Whisper don't cry
I'll take an interest in Illustration
It should be a laugh
Your words are with me still
They whisper in the grass
Shedding tears for affairs
I'm a stupid little thing
I can tell you this for nothing
You won't win
You had to drive
(I didn't want to)
Look me in the eye
(I found it hard to)
Whisper don't cry
(I had to whisper don't cry)
So I cried
04 Dory Previn (04:15)
Fed up of girls in pretty dresses
With boys who want to teach them a lesson
Sick of the sight of my old lover
Went under sheets and covers to get away from him
I can't see what he once meant to me
I think it's time I put him out of my mind
So I took a glimpse of Montana
Now nothing else matters
I'll heal eventually
How I adore you Dory Previn
Turned you up to eleven for the band's ears to bleed
I can't see what he once meant to me
Do you think it's time I put it out of my mind?
Do you think it's time I put it out of my mind?
I can't see what he once meant to me
Do you think it's time I put it out of my mind?
I can't see what he once meant to me
Do you think it's time I put it out of my mind?
I can't see what he once meant to me
Do you think it's time I put it out of my mind?
I can't see what he once meant to me
Do you think it's time I put it out of my mind?
I think it's time I let my love for him die
05 The False Contender (03:37)
I once had a love but soon had enough
He was a false contender
He got so thin there must have been deep sorrow gnawing away at him
What will I do?
Will it always be you?
I hope and I pray he'll leave me one day
We were so sweet under the Copper Beach
You left a mark you sunk your teeth
Into the back of my neck, oh let's not pretend I needed the lesson that you taught me well
What will I do?
Will it always be you?
I hope and I pray he'll leave me one day
What will I do?
Must it always be you?
I hope and I pray he'll leave me one day
Leave me one day
Leave me one day
Leave me one day
07 Country Mile (03:58)
Silver birch against a Swedish sky
The singer in the band made me want to cry
We're all inside our own heads now
We are leaving new friends, leaving this town
And I wish you could be here with me
I would show you off like a trophy
The road it winds, it twists, it turns, oh my stomach burns
Once again I'll be the foolish one
Thinking a blink of these lashes would make you come
Don't you worry, don't get in a state
I don't believe in true love anyway
Oh, who's being pessimistic now?
I could document this as our first, as our last row
The more you look forlorn, the more to you I warm
I won't be seeing you for a long while
I hope it's not as long as these country miles
I feel lost
I feel lost
No, I won't be seeing you for a long while
I hope it's not as long as these country miles
I feel lost
I feel lost
08 If Looks Could Kill (03:28)
Tell me where it all went wrong
Maybe I can make it better
Tell me where it all went wrong
Don’t you know that you really upset her
When you act like a man who is cross with every woman he’s never had
If it’s true looks could kill and you will be the first to make me mad
Then you’ll have to go
Is this the kind of fate you could contemplate
A breakdown at my very sight
I promise hidden words of tenderness in every single line that I write
Still you act like a man who is cross with every woman he’s never had
If it’s true looks could kill and you will be the first to make me mad
Then you’ll have to go
Maybe you’ll have to go
Is it true looks can kill
Is it true looks can kill
Is it true looks can kill
10 Razzle Dazzle Rose (05:29)
Rose, I'm feeling older
I was as lucky as a four-leaved clover
I tried to be happy it wasn't easy
When I choose my colour it will be Razzle Dazzle Rose
Rose, I'm feeling older
Courage my love it makes me bolder
Expecting softness can lead to foolishness
When I choose my colour it will be Razzle Dazzle rose
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Other reviews
By ziabice
The organ kicks off a huge sphere made of high-class pop that begins to roll towards us with the sweet voice of TracyAnne Campbell.
A retro atmosphere so convincing that it makes it almost impossible to distinguish the originals from the copies.
