Camera Obscura Album: “Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken [Maxi Single]”

camera obscura's new single begins like most proper camera obscura songs with a nice, pleasant, polite organ melody that's just this side of twee. however, a few seconds in when the drums kick in, you realize camera obscura has significantly improved as a band. gone are they wispy vocals, 'lloyd, i'm ready to be heartbroken' is a terrific single, and hopefully indicative of their upcoming album. it's stop-start-stop-star pacing keeps it interesting, and the switch to a minor chord at the beginning of the chorus is an unexpected, but pleasant, surprise. the strings could've been overbearing, but instead they add just the right embellishments.

'lloyd...' is more upbeat than anything they've ever done, suggesting that maybe they've ditched 'the stuart murdoch guide to scottish songwriting.' the hooks are huge and traceyanne's campbell's vocals are just so fantastic--a nice combination of vulnerability and enthusiasm. she sounds great, and more importantly, she sounds like she's having fun (not that she didn't before).

since i don't have any other superlatives to describe this single, i'll sum it up by saying it just plain old makes me happy to be alive. you'd be hard-pressed to find a better single released so far this year. Five stars.

Disregard below review of the song. Camera Obscura have sang the praises of Lloyd Cole since they formed and have mentioned how much they love the song "Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken." There was nothing snotty about the original, nothing snotty about this homage.

...Camera Obscura's new single may be the very pinnacle of what they do: winsome, melodic pop with thick Scottish accents. What else do you want???

Seriously, the power and attitude of this single totally reaffirms the value of languid, jangley pop to me. The track is a response to a snotty old Lloyd Cole song (hence the use of the word "Lloyd"!), and they somehow manage to both out-snot and out-smart Cole -- without ever getting all loud and rock-y about it. Best line? Probably "Jealousy is more than a word now, I understand / I know you can stay a girl by holding a boy's hand." A brilliant reductum-ad-absurdum of Cole's original spurious argument. Awesome...

The b-sides ain't bad, either...but the title cut is really the gem...

Just devastating. I can't wait for the new album. It's going to be fantastic.