トレイシーアン・キャンベル率いるスコットランドの伝説的インディー・ポップ・バンド、カメラ・オブスキュラ。10年以上ぶりとなるニュー・アルバム『ルック・トゥ・ジ・イースト、ルック・トゥ・ザ・ウェスト』をマージ・レコードよりリリース。

ギター/ヴォーカルのTracyanne Campbell率いるスコットランドの伝説的インディー・ポップ・バンド、Camera Obscuraは、10年以上ぶりとなるニュー・アルバム『Look to the East, Look to the West』をMerge Recordsからリリースする。このアルバムは、Camera Obscuraのキャリアの中でも最も苦闘した作品だ。2015年に結成時のキーボーディストで友人のCarey Lander,が亡くなった後、バンドは長期的な活動休止に入った。彼らは連絡を取り合ってはいたが、Belle & Sebastianによる2019年のBoaty Weekenderに招待され、グラスゴーでのソールドアウトしたウォームアップ・ライヴとともに復帰を発表するまで、その状況は不透明だった。Queenが「Bohemian Rhapsody」を書いたのと同じ部屋でレコーディングされた『Look to the East, Look to the West』は、Camera Obscuraのサウンドをワイドスクリーンで再構築したような、大きな作品へと仕上がっている。逆説的だが、バンドは基本に立ち返った。ストリングスやブラスのアレンジはなく、ピアノ、シンセサイザー、ハモンド・オルガン、ドラム・マシーンがより強調されている。そしておそらく最も印象的なのは、前作で特徴的だったリヴァーブのベールを脱いだことだろう。結果、彼らのバロック的なポップ・ミュージックにほろ苦いエッジを与えているカントリーとソウルの色合いは、かつてないほど明白になっている。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2024/02/20）

It wasnt clear that Camera Obscura were going to make music again after the passing of beloved keyboardist Carey Lander, but after regrouping for the Boaty Weekender at Belle and Sebastians request in 2018, they made plans to work together again. Tracyanne Campbell began writing songs, both solo and with new member Donna Maciocia, and they enlisted old friend Jari Haapalainen (who had worked with them on Underachievers Please Try Harder and Lets Get Out of This Country) to produce. The resulting album, Look to the East, Look to the West, is both a fitting tribute to what the band once was and a powerful new beginning. The group have retained the vital DNA that made them so special -- Campbell’s surgically precise lyrics and honeysweet vocals, the bands near telepathic interplay, and their unerring way with a melody -- while adding new elements like subtle electronic pulses, pedal steel-infused country-rock, and full-on piano ballads. Maciocia has a more musical style of playing, and her keyboard lines take center stage on a few songs, notably the song Campbell wrote about Lander ("Sugar Almond") that was done in two takes with just her voice and Maciocias piano. Another big change to their sound is the lack of reverb and the absence of strings and horns, as the band and Haapalainen strip away the layers of sound they used in the past to create something thats more immediate and focused. This approach serves the uptempo pop songs like "Pop Goes Pop" and "Were Gonna Make It in a Mans World" very well, giving them a nice, bouncy, up-front feel. It also works on the ballads, keeping them from sinking too deep into melancholy. The electronics the band add to the arrangements are interesting too; its possibly the first time the band have sounded even remotely modern. The plinky drum machine and whirring glitches on "Liberty Print" give the song a slightly otherworldly glaze, while the synth bass and synth swoops of "Baby Huey (Hard Times)" impart a lovely, lo-fi nostalgic feel. Other songs where the band stretch -- like on "Denon," which somehow sounds like a proggy girl group ballad, or the title track, which has the orchestral sweep and Laurel Canyon vibe of a classic Jimmy Webb production -- show that they arent content to rest on their well-earned laurels, but are looking to the future while carrying along all the warmth and deep feelings of the past. Look to the East, Look to the West could not have been an easy record for the band to make: the obvious emotion and care they have poured into it are a fitting, hopefully healing tribute to a fallen loved one and a heart-warming gift to a fan base who feared they may never hear music from them again. ~ Tim Sendra

Rovi