Tag Archives: Camera Obscura

Old Fruit

Old Fruit 27th February 2026

Joan As Police Woman – Anyone

Prompted by the news that Joan Wasser, in her performing guise of Joan As Police Woman, is going to be celebrating the twentieth anniversary of her ‘Real Life’ album, this weeks Old Fruit revisits that and five other notable records from 2006. To mark the occasion Joan has recorded and filmed new re-worked versions of songs from the record, including the beautiful ‘Anyone’ which today is rightly regarded as a classic. The celebrations will be accompanied by a tour later this year and if this new rendition should whet your appetite for further Joan’ exploration you can get on her case via the label Reveal Records and investigate more here: https://www.revealrecords.co.uk/

Cat Power – Lived In Bars

Here is another long established US artist who is going to be celebrating twenty years since the release of her classic ‘The Greatest’ album with a tour. Cat Power (real name Chan Marshall) emerged out of the 1990s indie scene and initially played with more of a lo-fi, alternative-blues kind of sound but by 2006, with confidence growing and artistic expressiveness sufficiently flexed, she issued the record that absolutely lived up to its name within her catalogue. The thing that she really nailed here was an authentic southern soul sound which, in tandem with Chan’s aching and bruised vocals, made for a set of songs that hit their mark with total conviction. Get yourself a copy of the album here: https://amzn.to/4bcXK3b

M Ward – Right In The Head

Here is a stand out track from M Ward that appeared on his 2006 album ‘Post War,’ released on Merge Records. It marked a sonic evolution for Ward being his first record recorded with a full band, broadening the songwriter’s palette beyond the intimate, lo‑fi textures of his earlier work. His sound by then was a mix of acoustic folk, blues, and dusty Americana whilst he was also able to entice contributions from collaborators like Neko Case. The nostalgia-tinged production he would go on to be acclaimed for was hitting its stride in 2006 and further deep listening of the mans music is strongly recommended, so why not start here with ‘Post War’ https://amzn.to/4bbWWvw

Camera Obscura – Lloyd I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken

Taken from their 2006 album ‘Let’s Get Out Of This Country,’ this song was actually the opening track and it marked the high water mark in the bands career, in accessible pop terms at least. This demonstrated a turning point too for the band, similar to that taken by fellow Scots Belle And Sebastian when they also moved away from the twee, bookish indie of their earlier days into a sound that was far more comfortable in big production and a lush widescreen pop sheen. It certainly endured as well, this is a song that still gets regular airplay (especially on 6 Music) to this day and quite rightly so; you can pick up the album on CD right here: https://amzn.to/40xfO1N

The Decemberists – Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)

The Decemberists 2006 album ‘The Crane Wife’ was an important one for them in that it sharpened their profile in the music world as a band capable of building long form song-based suites that could also produce a US folk-rock sound identifiably their own. This song especially shone with that balance of accessibility and ambition: a melodic, immediate tune that still carries the band’s signature narrative complexity. This live clip from a few years later is nice because it features Colin Meloy’s original lead vocal partner from the album recording, Laura Veirs, reprising her role on stage. The album is well worth checking out too and can be found via this link: https://amzn.to/4tZtC2M

Victorian English Gentleman’s Club – Ban The Gin

We conclude this edition with the only act this week who do not appear to still be active. The band did remain an underground cult favourite for a few years after releasing a debut album in 2006 and are fondly remembered by people who were following their label Fantastic Plastic Records or the Cardiff scene at the time. However, despite releasing a few more albums over the next ten years it would appear they quietly called it a day some time around 2016. Nevertheless, the VEGC burned bright for a while and certainly ignited a scene suddenly awash with Arctic Monkeys soundalikes with their unique and adventurous brand of Art-Pop. You can find a copy of their debut this way: https://www.discogs.com/master/208739-The-Victorian-English-Gentlemens-Club-The-Victorian-English-Gentlemens-Club

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Fresh Juice

8th April 2024

Hannah Frances – Vacant Intimacies

Hannah has many facets to her art and performance being simultaneously a composer, guitarist, poet, singer and movement artist. Her latest and third album ‘Keeper Of The Shepherd’, released by the Ruination Record Co., is a mesmerising set which manages to pull in influences as diverse as freak folk, progressive rock and free jazz into a set that demands repeated plays. On this new release it is the strength and conviction in that voice that really pulls you in, something definitively on display in this live performance of one of the albums outstanding numbers. All the aforementioned reference points are in evidence here, the untethered spirit of freak folk, the expansiveness and unpredictable melodic changes of prog and indeed some brass embellishments straight out of the jazz bop sound book but this is in no way a mish-mash, it is a fully contained song that rises to a pitch then recedes in a rather irresistible manner. The rest of the album is essential listening too, a strong LP release that we will still be talking about by the years end…

Sabatta – Take You There

Sabatta are a London duo who have been churning up the capitol rock scene for more than ten years now with a vital take on passionate, dirty and loud guitar music. They are Yinka Oyewole on guitar and vocals with Debbie Dee on bass and backing vocals. This track, taken from their most recent ‘How To Get Even’ album, is a firecracker of an electric instrumental with some undeniable echoes of garage rock fuelled with primal blues energy. But it sounds modern too, it is music for the here and now, music that demands to be blasted out of every electric vehicle skimming by in the 21st century city centre. Play this loud…

The Mellons – Make Me Feel

Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, I think it is reasonable to say that The Mellons, who have been on the scene since 2020, have soaked up the rainy day melancholy of the UK every bit as much as they have bathed in the sun drenched warmth of their own back yard. Of course, one listen to this places and you know they are positioned firmly under the sunshine pop umbrella but there is more going on both musically and visually. It is the Beach Boys harmonising to the sound of tea and biscuits late 60s UK psychedelia. Furthermore, there is more than a hint of the Magical Mystery Tour to this play school ram raid of a video. A splendid time is guaranteed for all however because The Mellons have not neglected the most vital component, they have written a quite lovely pop song in the traditional vein…

Nadine Shah – Topless Mother

This attention grabbing first single from Nadine’s latest album ‘Filthy Underneath’ was perhaps the only track sounding connected to her earlier releases. Elsewhere on the album she does push her musical palette into newer, lusher areas but nevertheless, this is arguably the song that shouts loudest and clearest just why she remains an artist worth paying attention to. The period of personal turbulence around the making of the record inevitably looms large, but the way she can channel this raw material into songs with a keen eye for the absurd and humour in otherwise unfunny situations is very well balanced. In this song alone the experience of dark sessions with a counsellor and dead end word association tasks leads to a chorus line that sings “Sinatra; Viagra; Iguana; Sharia; Diana; Samosa; Varuca; Tequila; Banana; Alaska; Medusa; Gorilla”…

Camera Obscura – Big Love

Here are a band we are lucky to still have around for after the death of long standing keyboardist Carey Lander in 2015 they understandably went on an indefinite hiatus. Even though they never officially declared an end to Camera Obscura and have played live recently, it would have been no surprise if that had been the end but no, they are about to return with a new album entitled ‘Look To The East Look To The West’ which is set for release next month. As you can hear, none of Tracyanne Campbell’s facility for carving a bittersweet melancholic pop hook has been lost and that voice remains a thing of bruised magnificence. They seem to be making a comeback because the music is sufficiently vital to justify the reappearance, at least that is how it sounds to me, which makes this a resurrection as welcome as it is necessary…

Norah Jones – Staring At The Wall

From the new album ‘Visions’ released on the Blue Note label, which is about as close as you get to an identifiably Jazz reference point in anything Norah does these days. She is far more of an Alt-Rock, Indie-Pop shapeshifter than people often give her credit for. This track is a good example, the rolling momentum of the electric guitar rhythm chunders in and out of focus whilst a howling, whooping lyric-less chorus echoes and thunders as if descending like a cloud of thick smog. Her music probes and cross-fertilizes across the genres and the song writing back bone always remains top drawer. Just like when I talked up the new Billy Joel release a few weeks ago, I am aware that a Norah Jones recommendation steers too close to the middle-of-the-road for some but, for me, there is far more cutting edge in this than your average The Streets release or (insert similar over-praised toss) so have it…

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