It wasn't 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 Sebastian's 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
Let's 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 band's 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
Maciocia's 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 that's more immediate and focused. This approach serves the uptempo pop songs like "Pop Goes Pop" and "We're Gonna Make It in a Man's 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; it's 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 aren't 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
![Give Up [Deluxe]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0098787104523_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Give Up [Deluxe]")
