I Camera Obscura da Glasgow propongono un pop dal sapore retrò vicino al suono dei concittadini Belle and Sebastian. Il sestetto affida le sue composizioni alla voce malinconica di Tracyanne Campbell, marchio del suono del gruppo insieme ad un organo di sottofondo e ad una chitarra che sostiene con i suoi fraseggi le melodie. "Let's Get Out Of This Country", album uscito nel 2006, è registrato e mixato di modo da sembrare un disco di fine anni '60; non è solo l'uso delle tastiere a dare questa impressione ma anche gli effetti della chitarra e la voce lontana di Tracyanne.
All'inizio ho parlato della somiglianza con i Belle and Sebastian, in particolare quella dei primi dischi. C'è però da precisare che i Camera Obscura suonano come una versione più malinconica e bucolica (anche per la qualità della registrazione); i due gruppi hanno in comune la passione per il pop inglese e americano degli anni '60 e l'attitudine a raccontare storie e a rendere palesi i propri riferimenti culturali ("Dory Previn" è dedicata alla poetessa e cantante americana). I testi di "Let's Get Out Of This Country" risultano però piuttosto monotoni. La malinconia straborda, si raccontano prevalentemente storie di amori finiti o mai cominciati ("Dory Previn", "The False Contender", "Tears For Affair", oppure speranze di iniziare una nuova storia d'amore ("Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken"). Sono testi per lo più contemplativi ("Country Mile") e come tali vanno di pari passo alla musica; è interessante allora notare come proprio i brani più movimentati musicalmente, con accenni verso il surf rock americano, siano anche quelli con un testo più propositivo e meno contemplativo, così è per "Loyd I'm Ready..." o per il brano che dà il titolo al disco, brano che descrive la voglia di scappare dalla provincia, che con il successivo "Country Mile" costituisce una sorta di dittico sulla partenza (non sulla fuga, il secondo brano è ambientato in Svezia, dove il gruppo ha registrato il lavoro.
I brani del gruppo si differenziano l'uno dall'altro pur avendo delle caratteristiche comuni, e questo è segno di maturità per il gruppo arrivato a pubblicare diversi ep e tre album. Il gruppo non indulge in finezze di arrangiamento o di bravura esecutiva, la sua cifra stilistica è una pacata medietà in cui si armonizzano sia i brani più lenti che quelli più veloci.Elenco tracce testi samples e video
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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Altre recensioni
Di ziabice
Hey Lloyd, I’m ready to be heartbroken! e noi glielo spacchiamo sto cuore, altrimenti sarà lei a rompercelo.
Sostanzialmente è un disco fatto di ballate mid/down-tempo cantate con tono imbronciato ed un po’ svogliato, con arrangiamenti molto ricchi, ma essendo pop mai troppo articolati.
