Camera Obscura (band)
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Camera Obscura are a Scottish
indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...
band from
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. The group formed in 1996, and have released six studio albums to date. Led by primary singer and songwriter Tracyanne Campbell, the band consists of guitarist/vocalist Kenny McKeeve, bassist Gavin Dunbar, and drummer Lee Thomson. Following the death of long-serving keyboardist Carey Lander, the band went on hiatus from 2015 to 2018. After reuniting in 2019 and adding Donna Maciocia as a permanent member, Camera Obscura released their first new album in 11 years, '' Look to the East, Look to the West'', to critical acclaim. The band's music has been frequently described as "
twee pop Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 ''NME'' compilation '' C86''. Twee pop gets its name from the aesthetic of twee, which is known for its simplicity and childlike innocence. Some of its defining features are boy-gi ...
", and garnered comparisons to fellow Scottish band Belle and Sebastian. The band have also been praised for their "honest, wide, and adult approach to heartbreak, romantic liaisons, and escapism".


History

Camera Obscura were formed in 1996 by Tracyanne Campbell, John Henderson and Gavin Dunbar. Several other members performed with the band before David Skirving joined as a permanent guitarist. Their first releases were the singles "Park and Ride" and "Your Sound" in 1998. The band's line-up changed in 2000 and 2001 when Lee Thomson joined as its permanent drummer, Lindsay Boyd joined as a keyboard player, and Skirving left and was replaced by Kenny McKeeve. Camera Obscura's first album, '' Biggest Bluest Hi Fi'', was released in 2001. The tracks Eighties Fan and Anti-Western were produced by Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian and was supported by
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
. The first single from the album, "Eighties Fan", came in at number eight in the Festive Fifty in 2001, and charted in several independent music charts.


Carey Lander era

Nigel Baillie joined the band as a trumpeter and percussionist in 2002 and Carey Lander replaced Boyd. In the summer of 2002, Peel asked the band to do their first
Peel session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
. The band's second album, '' Underachievers Please Try Harder'', was released in 2003 and was followed by Camera Obscura's first full tour of Great Britain and
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and the band's first tour of the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Founding member John Henderson left Camera Obscura following this tour. In early 2004 the band recorded the songs "I Love My Jean" and "Red, Red Rose" following their third Peel session, in which Peel had asked them to put these poems by
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...
to music. Camera Obscura recorded their third album, ''
Let's Get Out of This Country ''Let's Get Out of This Country'' is the third studio record by the Scottish indie pop band Camera Obscura (band), Camera Obscura, released by Elefant Records on 6 June 2006. It was recorded in Sweden with the producer Jari Haapalainen, and arran ...
'', in Sweden over the course of two weeks with producer Jari Haapalainen. The album was released on 6 June 2006. The first single, "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken", is an answer song to Lloyd Cole and the Commotions' song " Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?"; it appears during the opening credits of the 2007 film, '' P.S. I Love You''. The title song was featured in episode 5 of '' Friday Night Lights''. In February 2009 the band announced they had signed with
4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...
. The new album, '' My Maudlin Career'', was released in April 2009, and preceded by the first single "French Navy".
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
-based jewellery brand Tatty Devine created brooches and necklaces to coincide with the launch. The album was the band's first UK Top 40 success, and it also reached the top 40 in Ireland and the US ''Billboard'' 200. Around this time, the band announced that "due to family commitments (including being a proud dad) Nigel will no longer be a full time member of Camera Obscura". On 18 April 2009, Camera Obscura released a special edition
Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...
7" called "French Navy" for independent record stores. "French Navy" was also used by Echo Falls, who are the sponsors of '' Come Dine with Me'', at the start of each episode and during commercial breaks. Their album '' Desire Lines'' was produced by
Tucker Martine Tucker Martine (born January 14, 1972) is an American record producer, musician and composer. In 2010, ''Paste'' Magazine included Martine in their list of the 10 Best Producers of the Decade. Early life Tucker Martine, the son of singer and son ...
and released by 4AD on 3 June 2013. In 2015, the band cancelled planned gigs in North America due to the illness of Carey Lander. She was first diagnosed with
osteosarcoma An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchyme, mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma) and that exhi ...
in 2011. She announced in 2015 that it had returned. Lander set up a JustGiving page for Sarcoma UK in order to raise awareness to the illness and lack of funding for research and treatment, and as of August 2024, the sum of donations is over £103,000. Carey Lander died on 11 October 2015. In May 2018, while Campbell was promoting the self-titled debut album of Tracyanne & Danny, her new project with Danny Coughlan, she noted that she still kept in touch with the other members of Camera Obscura in the wake of Lander's passing, but the future of the band remained undiscussed. The song "Alabama" from the ''Tracyanne & Danny'' album is Campbell's tribute to Lander.


2018 return

On 5 September 2018, Camera Obscura returned to live performance as part of the Boaty Weekender, a cruise festival curated by Belle & Sebastian sailing from Barcelona to Cagliari on 8–12 August 2019. Prior to participating in the Boaty Weekender, the band announced a warm-up show at Saint Luke's & The Winged Ox in Glasgow on 5 August with proceeds donated to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in memory of Carey Lander. After tickets for the show were sold out, the band added a second date with proceeds also being donated. For these shows and the Boaty Weekender, the band brought in Donna Maciocia, formerly of Amplifico, to accompany the band on keyboards and backing vocals. The band confirmed in May 2020 that they were preparing a new album, but had been forced to delay recording it due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. On 23 April 2022, the band released a new compilation album, ''Making Money'', containing "hard-to-find B-sides", covers, a session recording and two remixes. The release was dedicated to the memory of previous band member Carey Lander On 15 November 2023, the band announced 2024 tour dates, adding there would be "some new music" in support of it. In January 2024, the band announced their sixth studio album '' Look to the East, Look to the West''. It was released on 3 May 2024. To coincide with the announcement, the album's lead single "Big Love" was released.


Members


Current members

* Tracyanne Campbell – lead vocals, guitar (1996–2015, 2018–present), percussion (1996–2004) * Gavin Dunbar – bass (1996–2015, 2018–present) * Lee Thomson – drums (2000–2015, 2018–present) * Kenny McKeeve – guitar, backing vocals (2001–2015, 2018–present) * Donna Maciocia – keyboards, backing vocals (2023–present; touring musician 2019)


Former members

* John Henderson – lead and backing vocals, percussion (1996–2004) * David Skirving – guitar, backing vocals (1998–2001) * Richard Colburn – drums (1998–2000) * Lindsay Boyd – keyboards (2000–2002) * Nigel Baillie – trumpet, percussion (2002–2009) * Carey Lander – piano, keyboards, backing vocals (2002–2015; died 2015)


Former touring musicians

* Frànçois Marry – trumpet, percussion, guitar (2003–2009)


Timeline


Discography


Albums


Compilations and EPs

* ''Rare UK Bird'' (December 1999, Quattro) Japan-only * ''4AD Sessions EP'' (19 April 2014, 4AD) Record Store Day * ''Making Money'' (23 April 2022, 4AD) Record Store Day


Singles


Other contributions

* ''Acoustic 07'' (2007,
V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music and V2 Benelux; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007, sold to PIAS in 2013 and partially acquired by Universal in 2022 (as part of larger PIAS 49% ...
) – "Let's Get Out of This Country" * '' The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show'' (2007, EMI) – " Super Trouper"


See also

* List of bands and musicians from Glasgow *
List of Scottish musicians This list of notable Scottish musicians is part of the List of Scots series. 0–9 * 18 Wheeler, band * 1990s, indie rock band A * John Abell, countertenor, composer and lutenist * Aberfeldy, pop band * AC Acoustics * Maggie Adamson * Stuar ...


References


External links


Official site
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Camera Obscura Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups from Glasgow Scottish indie pop groups Scottish indie rock groups Twee pop groups 4AD artists 1996 establishments in Scotland Elefant Records artists Merge Records artists Female-fronted musical groups