Artist: Camera Obscura
Album: My Maudlin Career
Year: 2009
Grade: 4 pretzels
As anyone who’s been reading might have figured out by now, I’m not always a fan of upbeat music. I feel no shame when I say my tastes tend to cover a wide range of downcast, intense music (some might even say “depressing”). I don’t consider myself a particularly moody person, but sad music definitely strikes some specific chord inside me that more cheerful songs don’t. However, every once and a while, an album will come along that wins my angsty, young man’s soul over. Camera Obscura’s blissful My Maudlin Career is one of those.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that most of the songs on My Maudlin Career aren’t all that happy in the first place. For the most part, they’re tragic love songs, with characters pining for lost partners or making sense of failing relationships. As singer Tracyanne Campbell sings on “The Sweetest Thing”, “you challenged me to write a love song, here it is, I think I got it wrong, I focused on the negative.” In many ways, that’s what this album is about. The songs are desperately trying to be happy love songs, but things keep getting in the way.
The reason this album feels so happy is because of the music. Heavy on retro shimmering guitars and some of the sunniest melodies the world has seen since the Beach Boys, this album sounds like the most amazingly appropriate soundtrack for summer and romance. Never mind the downcast lyrics. Just allow yourself to get lost in the breezy guitar of “You Told A Lie” or the triumphant horns of “Honey In The Sun”. The music is just so exuberant and warm, you just can’t put up a fight.
Of course, it isn’t all fun and games on My Maudlin Career. The album has two heart-wrenching tearjerkers hidden among the bliss and silly romanticism. The gentle shuffle of “Forest And Sands” matches the quiet tale of betrayal in the lyrics, capturing just the right amount of sadness without becoming…*ahem*…maudlin. But the strongest emotions are reserved for the devastating “Away With Murder”, highlighted by a sighing, descending keyboard riff and Campbell’s tale of love in the face of suicidal tendencies. It’s a beautiful and touching number, becoming the emotional heart of the album in the process.
Even with all these emotions running wild, Campbell finds plenty of opportunities to work choice lyrical zingers into these songs. “The Sweetest Thing” features the fabulous chorus of “when you’re lucid, you’re the sweetest thing, I would trade my mother just to hear you sing.” At the same time, she also has a flair for some of the most heart-warming, romantic lyrics I’ve ever encountered. “You Told A Lie” is highlighted by this extraordinary bridge: “are my eyes the coldest blue? You said once this was true, if it is I don’t know what I’ll do, ‘cause I’m stuck with them, and they’re stuck on you.” At the end of the day, it’s lines like this that remind me that this album isn’t necessarily the happy-go-lucky experience that it’s sugary surface might suggest. This album can be just as sad as plenty of other music I love. I guess in that sense, it’s no surprise that I like it so much.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that most of the songs on My Maudlin Career aren’t all that happy in the first place. For the most part, they’re tragic love songs, with characters pining for lost partners or making sense of failing relationships. As singer Tracyanne Campbell sings on “The Sweetest Thing”, “you challenged me to write a love song, here it is, I think I got it wrong, I focused on the negative.” In many ways, that’s what this album is about. The songs are desperately trying to be happy love songs, but things keep getting in the way.
The reason this album feels so happy is because of the music. Heavy on retro shimmering guitars and some of the sunniest melodies the world has seen since the Beach Boys, this album sounds like the most amazingly appropriate soundtrack for summer and romance. Never mind the downcast lyrics. Just allow yourself to get lost in the breezy guitar of “You Told A Lie” or the triumphant horns of “Honey In The Sun”. The music is just so exuberant and warm, you just can’t put up a fight.
Of course, it isn’t all fun and games on My Maudlin Career. The album has two heart-wrenching tearjerkers hidden among the bliss and silly romanticism. The gentle shuffle of “Forest And Sands” matches the quiet tale of betrayal in the lyrics, capturing just the right amount of sadness without becoming…*ahem*…maudlin. But the strongest emotions are reserved for the devastating “Away With Murder”, highlighted by a sighing, descending keyboard riff and Campbell’s tale of love in the face of suicidal tendencies. It’s a beautiful and touching number, becoming the emotional heart of the album in the process.
Even with all these emotions running wild, Campbell finds plenty of opportunities to work choice lyrical zingers into these songs. “The Sweetest Thing” features the fabulous chorus of “when you’re lucid, you’re the sweetest thing, I would trade my mother just to hear you sing.” At the same time, she also has a flair for some of the most heart-warming, romantic lyrics I’ve ever encountered. “You Told A Lie” is highlighted by this extraordinary bridge: “are my eyes the coldest blue? You said once this was true, if it is I don’t know what I’ll do, ‘cause I’m stuck with them, and they’re stuck on you.” At the end of the day, it’s lines like this that remind me that this album isn’t necessarily the happy-go-lucky experience that it’s sugary surface might suggest. This album can be just as sad as plenty of other music I love. I guess in that sense, it’s no surprise that I like it so much.
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