In Stores Now: My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura

Illustration titled "The Gallant Rescue" by Susan Austel from Peter Parley's Annual, 1865

Glasgow's Camera Obscura has been around since 1996, so it's not surprising that they make mature-sounding music, even though they have only released four albums during that time. Grafting a love of Northern Soul and girl group melodies to a UK-indie aesthetic, the band relies heavily on the writing of frontwoman Tracyanne Campbell and classic pop arrangements. Their new album (and first on 4ad Records) is called My Maudlin Career, and it has as many great pop moments as any album they've made. Oddly, though, they don't really add up to a remarkable album for me, and I've been trying to figure out why.

The album starts strong with the single "French Navy", a Tamla-style number that bursts out of the gates with a great vocal from Campbell. It's not quite as good as their best singles, "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" and "Suspended from Class", but it's a lot of fun. "James" is one of the best ballads they've done, and "The Sweetest Thing" is an excellent homage to girl-group grandeur, starting with heart-melting harmonies and a bouncing drumbeat. "Swans" makes a lot out of a very simple nursery-rhyme melody, something that is deceptively difficult to pull off, and the album's title track sparkles in a way that is directly at odds with its title.

Even though the songs on My Maudlin Career sound great in isolation, the album recedes into background ambiance for me when I listen to it all the way through. By the fourth track, I'm having trouble giving it any attention. Certain things still stand out, like the tinkling ascending piano on "My Maudlin Career" and the glockenspiel intro in "Swans", but the rest is one big swirl of generic string arrangements and too-familiar rhythm patterns. I don't want to place the blame on Sweden (where the album was recorded), but I think these songs are a little too dressed up and have a sheen that detracts from the identifiable charm of their earlier albums. The album also follows a pattern of two slightly uptempo songs followed by two slightly slower songs, and this creates a feeling of monotony after a while.

Overall, My Maudlin Career may not be a big step forward from their amazing Let's Get Out of the Country, but I still enjoy the songs. And Tracyanne Campbell's songwriting chops are still improving. "The Sweetest Thing", for instance, has a heavenly intro and lovely lilting melody, but there's something darker going on in the lyrics. The optimism of the title is sincere, but it's the result of setting your expectations tragically low - the song's chorus is "When you're lucid, you're the sweetest thing/I would trade my mother to hear you sing."

"The Sweetest Thing" by Camera Obscura