Music Review: Desire Lines

It is safe to say that the impetus for my extensive journey beyond mainstream pop was Camera Obscura’s 2006 album, Let’s Get Out of This Country. It drew me away from formulaic, overplayed top-40 hits and towards the more instrumentally diverse and lyrically thoughtful independent music scene. From lead singer Tracyanne Campbell’s simultaneously seductive and simple voice to each song’s love-themed melodies, I instantly fell for the band’s music. After listening to Camera Obscura, there was no returning to the instrumentally basic, emotionally void 2000s pop. And so began my journey off the beaten airwave. Now, seven years later, Desire Lines feels like coming home.

Camera Obscura is by no means known for their experimental nature. The casualness with which the lyrics, describe the ebb and flow of a relationship, is pleasantly standard for the group. Uncomplicated lyrics and instrumentals manage to capture even the most minute details, rather than the greatest devastation or elation, of a relationship. The instrumentals are soothing and familiar; the guitar sounds like an old Telecaster playing riffs ganked from the early 1980s. This sound is only enhanced by the omnipresent synthesizer and mellow drum backbeats. 

Desire Lines is, at its core, a not terribly intense study of the ending of relationships and the desire to move on. Moderately paced “New Year’s Resolution” describes the disintegration of a relationship as feelings fade, revealing the resolution, “is to kiss you like I mean it.” Other tracks like “Troublemaker” also reveal the feelings of someone who has fallen out of love. In a somewhat different vein, in “I Missed Your Party,” Campbell injects some darker humor as she lists reasons why she cannot attend her friend’s party;  “I listen to Billy Joel, I watch Flashdance again, I’m going to get through Walt Whitman.” The accessibility of the lyrics is only enhanced by the easy flowing music and Campbell’s vocal nonchalance.  

Desire Lines is nothing revolutionary, nor is it a great divergence from previous albums. But, I echo Campbell in saying, “Let’s do it again.”