Camera Obscura is a bit like a liquor-filled chocolate; something that at first seems dark and sweet but very quickly reveals a pungent center with a potent kick. The band was assembled in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1996 by vocalist/guitarist Tracyanne Campbell, percussionist/vocalist John Henderson and bassist Gavin Dunbar and gained some notoriety with their early singles (“Park and Ride,” “Your Sound”) and their Rare UK Bird EP.
The recently released My Maudlin Career is an orchestral Pop triumph that lilts and punches like Neko Case fronting The Smiths and produced by Jimmy Webb. If you aren’t yet wise in the ways of Camera Obscura (and shame on you if you’re lighting candles for Belle and Sebastian and don’t know CO), you can check out A Band Beginning with C, a recent documentary about the band, on YouTube. Or just go to the show and prepare to be delighted and astonished and moved.
They play at the Southgate House with OBLiO. Get Sound Advice here.
