My Maudlin Career

Last updated
My Maudlin Career
My Maudlin Career.jpg
Studio album by
Released20 April 2009
RecordedAtlantis Studio, Konst & Ramar Studio, and Cosmos Studio; Stockholm, Sweden
Genre Indie pop
Length46:24
Label 4AD
Producer Jari Haapalainen
Camera Obscura chronology
Let's Get Out of This Country
(2006)
My Maudlin Career
(2009)
Desire Lines
(2013)

My Maudlin Career is the fourth studio album by the Scottish indie pop band Camera Obscura. The album was made available for streaming on 14 April 2009, before being released on 20 April via 4AD. [1] Like its predecessor, the album was produced by Jari Haapalainen of The Bear Quartet. The string and horn arrangements are by Björn Yttling, of Peter Bjorn and John.

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic? 7.8/10 [2]
Metacritic 80/100 [3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The A.V. Club B− [5]
The Daily Telegraph Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
The Irish Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
NME 9/10 [9]
The Observer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Pitchfork 8.3/10 [11]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Spin 7/10 [13]

The critical response to My Maudlin Career was generally positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a favorable score of 80, based on 25 reviews. [3]

Music critic Tim Sendra of AllMusic called the album "almost an exact copy of their previous album" but added "Really, the group could go on remaking it for years to negligible complaints from their fans and very few diminishing returns." [4] Gareth Grundy of The Observer called the album more polished and poised than the band's previous work. [10] Kevin Liedel of Slant Magazine wrote "The result is not nearly as novel or dorkishly handsome as Country, but it still manages to exude addictive gorgeousness... Luckily, for both the album and its audience, the band's perseverance results in hits more often than misses." [14] In his review for Pitchfork , Brian Howe called the string arrangements out of control but praised the album, writing "it sounds more assertive and agile, with increased swing and soul, than ever before. There are still melodies of heart-wrenching simplicity that stick in your head to an almost irritating degree (beware of the dangerously catchy "James"), balanced by songs with longer, more complex and limber melodic phrases." [11]

Track listing

All songs written by Tracyanne Campbell.

No.TitleLength
1."French Navy"3:19
2."The Sweetest Thing"4:23
3."You Told a Lie"3:45
4."Away with Murder"4:08
5."Swans"4:09
6."James"3:50
7."Careless Love"4:35
8."My Maudlin Career"4:19
9."Forests and Sands"4:16
10."Other Towns and Cities"3:59
11."Honey in the Sun"5:45
Total length:46:24

Australian tour edition bonus tracks

  1. "The World Is Full Of Strangers"
  2. "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven"
  3. "French Navy (Jim Noir remix)"
  4. "Tougher Than The Rest"
  5. "The Blizzard"

Singles

Chart performance

The album reached number 32 on the UK Albums Chart after one week of sales. It also broke into the Billboard Top 100 in the US, peaking at number 87. In Scotland, the album reached number 37.

Personnel

Production notes:

Related Research Articles

4AD British record label

4AD is a record label owned by the UK based Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" 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 the first four singles. In late 1980 Watts-Russell and Kent purchased the label off Beggars Banquet to become an independent record label, then in 1981, Kent sold his share to Watts-Russell.

Camera Obscura (band)

Camera Obscura is a Scottish indie pop band from Glasgow. The group formed in 1996, and have released five albums to date – the most recent of which, Desire Lines, was released in 2013. The current members of the band are vocalist Tracyanne Campbell, guitarist Kenny McKeeve, bassist Gavin Dunbar, and drummer Lee Thomson. The band undertook an extended hiatus in 2015, following the death of long-serving keyboardist Carey Lander. The surviving members later reconvened in 2018.

The Bear Quartet Swedish indie rock band

The Bear Quartet was a cult indie rock band from Luleå in northern Sweden. They were formed in the summer of 1989 with the original roster of Mattias Alkberg on guitar and vocals, Jari Haapalainen and Johan Forsling on guitar, Peter Nuottaniemi on bass, and Magnus Olsson on drums. However, the band's lineup changed significantly before eventually settling on Mattias Alkberg on vocals and guitar, Jari Haapalainen on guitar, Peter Nuottaniemi on bass, Jejo Perkovic on drums, and Calle Olsson on keyboards. Their name is a reference to the novel Gentlemen by Klas Östergren. Although they were formed in 1989, they didn't garner the attention of a record label until 1992. They made records at a steady rate from 1992, with their debut album, Penny Century, to 2010 with their final album Monty Python. Their albums were often received favorably, but they never resulted in large sales, usually only selling between 1,000 and 10,000 units per disc. The band is very obscure across the world, although they are much better known in Sweden.

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References

  1. "Camera Obscura's My Maudlin Career streaming". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  2. "My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura reviews". AnyDecentMusic? . Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Reviews for My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura". Metacritic . Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  4. 1 2 Sendra, Tim. "My Maudlin Career – Camera Obscura". AllMusic . Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  5. Singer, Brett (12 May 2009). "Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  6. Perry, Andrew (29 April 2009). "Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career, CD review". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  7. Gleeson, Sinéad (24 April 2009). "Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career (4AD)". The Irish Times . Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  8. "Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career". Mojo (187): 109. June 2009.
  9. McMahon, James (14 April 2009). "Album review: Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career". NME . Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  10. 1 2 Grundy, Gareth (19 April 2009). "Rock review: Camera Obscura, My Maudlin Career". The Observer . Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  11. 1 2 Howe, Brian (21 April 2009). "Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career". Pitchfork . Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  12. "Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career". Q (275): 119. June 2009.
  13. Thomas, Lindsey (May 2009). "Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career". Spin . 25 (5): 85. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  14. Liedel, Kevin (31 March 2009). "Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career". Slant Magazine . Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  15. 4AD - Camera Obscura - New single announced; worldwide tour dates revealed; online shop opens Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
  16. The Blizzard by Camera Obscura - Releases | Beggars Group
  17. The Nights Are Cold by Camera Obscura Releases at 4ad.com