Review of the week: Camera Obscura- My Maudlin Career

Camera Obscura has always been a throw-back to the happier times of pop rock history, but on their new album, My Maudlin Career, they do classic rock’ n’ roll in a way that seems to stand out with it’s back a little straighter than all the other classic rock throw-backs.

Songs like “French Navy” and “The Sweetest Thing” are dripping with sugary sweetness that is very upfront about the album’s pop roots and intentions, with rousing tambourines, keys and strings and beautiful melodies that make the coldest of hearts melt. But then the lyrics freeze everything back up in a way unique to contemporary lyricists, such as artists like Cat Power or Jenny Lewis. “I wanted to control it/ But love, I couldn’t hold it” (“French Navy”), or “I'm going on a date tonight/ To try to fall out of love with you/ I know, I know this is a crime/ But I don't know what else to do” (“The Sweetest Thing”).

Then, there are the hopeless tragedies of songs like “You Told a Lie” and “Away With Murder” that just make you think of The Crystals and the same sort of irony that went along with “He Hit Me.” This is where listeners start to really get a sense that the songs are about the band members and troubles they're having on the road, too: “People have been traveling miles just to hear us sing/ It's a February night and I don't want to feel anything” and “Oh it's been hard to be strong with all of this going on/ Yeah it's been hard to be strong with all of this going on/ I have been lonely too, like you/ I'm just like you.” You start to get a sense that the maudlin career is actually that of the individuals in Camera Obscura.

By the way, “maudlin” is known as an alteration of Mary Magdalene, who is known for weeping often, and the direct meanings are: 1. to be drunk enough to be emotionally silly and 2. weakly and effusively sentimental. To have a “maudlin career” is kind of a wild approach to thinking about a profession. This might mean that someone is a bad actor, or that someone is Britney Spears, for example.

The best insight we’ll get about Camera Obscura’s take on a maudlin career is probably from listening to the title track, “My Maudlin Career,” which starts out with incredibly whimsical keys and builds a steady pace with that heavy dose of cymbals, tambourine, and classic percussion that reminds you of the good old days. There is something very lamenting about the tempo and about the crooning vocals that seem to be weeping in true Magdalene style, via Tracyanne’s Scottish voice. She starts off with typical things about crushes crushing, but then in a delightful play on words she gets into the heart of a maudlin career: “I harbored worried feelings/ Like they were worth protecting/ You say I'm too kind and sentimental/ Like you could catch affection.”

Suddenly, things start to come together, and the album never looses sight of a deeper sense of sadness cushioned by the bubblegum pop music that delivers the sad news. You start to wonder which came first: the idea for the album title or the actual songs and lyrics. Maybe one day I’ll get a chance to ask them this question.