It’s a dangerous thing, being on the top of your game. When you’re at the absolute peak of your powers, it can sometimes feel like a derailment is just around the corner.
It is for this reason that I went to see Camera Obscura at Newcastle Academy 2 tonight with an even mix of trepidation and anticipation. After all, they’ve managed to follow up their career highlight Let’s Get Out of This Country with the equally fantastic My Maudlin Career. The little devil on my shoulder was prodding me all day, making me wonder if they could possibly live up to it all.
Fortunately for all concerned (well, mainly me really), they managed to maintain their place on the pedestal I created for them with a night of the prettiest, purest pop known to man.
Tracyanne Campbell’s voice is one of the most important components of the way Camera Obscura sound. Her half-longing, half-bored Scotch lilt adds almost unbearable levels of emotion to the songs, and this was ramped up to the max tonight. The sparse perfomance of ‘Country Mile’ in particular, was heart wrenching.
So heart wrenching, in fact, that for a brief moment I managed to forget how ridiculously full the Academy was tonight. Each stamp on my foot and shove in the back from someone struggling to the bar on the other side of the room was a clear reminder of just how popular Camera Obscura have become.
And really, how could they not be? When you can create such beautiful and timeless pop music as they do, and can deliver it so effortlessly on a nightly basis, then people can’t help but respond.
Somehow, they keep achieving new heights. Just look My Maudlin Career’s closing track ‘Honey in the Sun’. On the record, it’s pure bliss. Joyous, and a little bit sad, the archetypal Camera Obscura song. But tonight it was that little bit more euphoric, delivered with the glee of a band who know just how good their songs are.
So much so, in fact, that even when their usually seamless playing goes a bit wonky, you can’t possibly object. A few false starts (‘Obscura moments’, apparently) don’t matter. Complaining about those would be like kicking a kitten for sneezing. Tonight was just about enjoying a band in such top form that you don‘t bat an eyelid when you get home to realise the football on telly finished 4-4.
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