Camera Obscura – Desire Lines

After four years away, fans must have feared the worst when it came to Camera Obscura's future. But then, out of the blue, come s 'Desire Lines'. It is by no means the most striking album of the year, or the best of their career but is still a compelling and consistent effort.

One constant throughout the album, and Camera Obscura's lifespan is Tracyanne Campbell's beautiful vocals. On 'Desire Lines', Campbell utilises her unique yelps and gulps to lead the listener into tales of love and heartache. Being a thoughtful artist Campbell does not simply focus on the elation that comes with a new romance or the pain of a break up: she locks horns with the cloudier realms of relationships that are often indefinable leaving you murmuring under your breath 'that’s like me and (insert your own relationship role here…. This isn't Russia).

'Troublemaker' for instance, looks at the long term relationship where one half is settled and the other is itching to shake things up:

“Three years in and I call to crush what remains of this love
It's going to be one hell of a year.
Keeping secrets in water tight compartments, Dear
It's giving me the fear”

'Fifth In Line To The Throne' witnesses Campbell describing how the girlfriend/wife has been pushed down the pecking order of her partners affections for reasons unknown. The great thing about this song is how Campbell alludes to her female heroine not fully giving up on the relationship. It raises questions about the partner. Are they cheating? Have they just lost sight of what’s important? Are they an arsehole? Before you know it, you have become the storyteller and left the with doubt. 

Musically, the album treads very similar circles for the gang. There are nods to early Belle & Sebastian and Velvet Underground as usual but the quality is so high that the familiar Belle & Sebastian and Velvet Underground tones allows them to wander down pre-trodden paths and leave you feeling comforted rather than cheated. 'Do It Again' could have been part of Belle & Sebastian's classic 'Boy With The Arab Strap' with its upbeat jingle-jangle guitars and lyrics of a bygone era. Meanwhile, album closer and title-track 'Desire Lines' meanders beautifully like only the Underground could. Just when you think you have it pegged, in comes the slide guitar worthy of Emmylou Harris to take the song to another level.

Sadly, this album, as with Camera Obscura’s previous efforts, lacks the killer pop single to catapult them into the mind-sets of the mainstream. We at TT, feel this is a travesty as Campbell's vocals were made to be idolised by the masses. However, the freedom that they have been given on the indie circuit has produced some spellbinding song writing on 'Desire Lines'. You will go a long way to find an album that gets to the crux of a relationship that has nagging uncertainties and how people drift in and out of each other’s lives more than this one does. 'New Year's Resolution' and 'Desire Lines' are truly remarkable and we implore you all to invest in this album before the year is out.

Miles Kane – Don’t Forget Who You Are

We hope everyone enjoyed the festival season. Here at TT, we have been reviewing our favourite albums of the year so far and will be drip feeding these to you over the coming weeks. To kick things of here is our review of Miles Kane’s ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’.

As a whole, the second helping from Kane has taken T-Rex’s ‘20^th Century Boy’ and ‘Children Of The Revolution’ and injected them with a huge dose of adrenaline worthy of Liam Gallagher and Richard Ashcroft in their pomp.

The current single and lead track ‘Taking Over’ is a fine example of this.  Co-written with Lightning Seeds’ frontman Ian Broudie, the track has catchy and punchy riffs coursing throughout which serve Kane’s new aggressive vocals perfectly.

The album has an undercurrent of glam rock running through it and is none more prevalent on the stomper ‘Give Up’. It has some great guitar hooks which are sure to have crowds strutting nationwide when he is on tour next month.

There are two tracks written with Weller on the album and ‘You’re Gonna Get It’ is the stand out. It seems to spring from Weller’s ‘From The Floorbards Up’ with a Sex Pistols ferocity and shows Kane has guitar showmanship of Mick Ronson.

Kane doesn’t always get the new blend of aggression right though. The title track, ‘Don’t’ Forget Who You Are’ feels tired and a bit of a substandard ‘Jitterbug Boogie’. It’s hard to criticise someone so passionate, but the naivety of youth is definitely at play here. A step back and a more subtle approach with his producer and we could witness magic Bolan produced in his heyday.

His ambition to be the next great rock star of a generation is coupled with a softer intention to pay homage to the grand productions of Scott Walker. ‘Out Of Control’ is the kind of 60s nostalgia that everyone should make time for. It sounds big and grandiose but remains heart-warming throughout. Without tracks like this, what will young lovers sway to? What would cretins film on their shitty phones instead of living for the moment at gigs? We simply don’t know.

What we do know is that Kane is on one hell of a roll. His early days with The Little Flames and The Rascals showed lots of promise but didn’t quite come off. Since the Last Shadow Puppets debut, Kane’s confidence has soared and he has knocked up two quality albums. This serving is not perfect and therein lays its greatest asset:  it is unhinged, raw and energetic. The nods to Northern Soul, Mod and Glam-Rock here are fresh and fiery and exactly what the UK music scene need.