Is it really over a decade since Camera Obscura released Desire Lines? It doesn’t seem five minutes since the Glaswegian band put the modern classic out, so even though Look To The East, Look To The West is a ‘comeback’ album, it doesn’t really feel like one. Part of the reason for that is Tracyanne Campbell, who apparently has lost none of her prowess when it comes to writing captivating melodies or lyrics with a strong message that make you either want to punch the air or crumble in a heap.
Opening track ‘Liberty Print‘ falls into the latter category. A song about Campbell’s brother, who died tragically young at 34 (I can relate – my father died at 33), those last couple of lines – “Oh, what a terrible waste of a young man’s time / You never did find peace / Oh, it’s no fun / I had to visit your mother / You were her only son” – absolutely destroyed me, the first time I heard it. It’s a bold statement to begin your album with something so drastically different to anything you’ve put out before – it’s more akin to a Big Thief number really – but it is, without doubt, an instant classic in the Camera Obscura canon.
‘We’re Going To Make It In A Man’s World‘ is the polar opposite, its defiant lyrics self explanatory and swathed in Campbell’s captivating vocals and given a kind of 60s feel that you would perhaps associate mostly with the likes of Dusty Springfield or Petula Clark. Again it’s a wholly irresistible composition with one of the strongest hooks that Camera Obscura have put out to date.
For all the pretty, bright and breezy alt. country leanings of ‘Big Love‘ and ‘The Light Nights‘, there’s a yearning in Campbell’s voice here that reveals a vulnerability not necessarily hitherto immediately obvious in previous releases, though it’s most noticeable in the slower, reflective ‘Only A Dream‘ and the quite devastating ‘Sleepwalking‘, the aching sadness palpable and beguilingly beautiful. It feels like a band who still haven’t got over the untimely death of keyboard player and friend Carey Lander, and probably never will.
‘Baby Huey (Hard Times)‘ is altogether more optimistic (“The more I get to know you, the more I love you“), and later we get the glorious ‘Pop Goes Pop‘ which lies somewhere between Motown, country, and the late eighties jangle pop purveyed by the likes of The Darling Buds. And that Hammond organ is just so seductive. A highpoint for sure.
Just as you’re starting to think this is the ‘positive’ half of the album, they hit you with ‘Sugar Almond‘, which addresses the passing of the aforementioned Lander full on, and pretty much confirms my suspicions. It’s a sad lament to a much loved band member and an emotional, beautiful tribute, before the title track sees us out with a gentle, compassionate hug.
Look To The East, Look To The West is sorrowful yet happily nostalgic, uncertain yet full of intent, and easily one of the most tenderly affecting albums you’ll hear in 2024. I’d say it’s a must have.
