Late at night

There are some things that are perfect for late at night. Taco Bell may be the first thing that I think of, and I'm sure many of you agree. Taco Bell really is at its best between the hours of 12am and 2 am. But when I'm driving home during the late night, I like listening to quieter music. A few albums that have been my late night main stays for a long time: Neko Case's Blacklisted, Ryan Adams' Cold Roses, Elvis Perkins' Ash Wednesday and Iron and Wine's Our Endless Numbered Days, among other things. These albums have exactly what I want for the wee hours; beautiful/haunting songs filled with introspection and heartache. I do some of my best thinking while listening to this kind of music. And when I'm driving home from God knows where at Jesus knows what hour, I often look forward to the car ride to reflect on things, and put on the latest late night playlist. I'll also buy some albums specifically for the purpose of playing it only during late night car rides. This week I added to the late night rotation with the purchase of Camera Obscura's new album "My Maudlin Career". I actually haven't been that big a fan of them, but I bought this on a whim and was immediately knocked out.

Camera Obscura are a Scottish chamber pop group along the lines of Belle and Sebastian. Listening to them, one gets the feeling that the singer has had a lot of bad relationships. Every song seems like she's trying to woo someone, or is heartbroken. The production and arrangements are what really stand out at first glance. They're very much along the lines of the big sound of the 1960s girl groups. There are tons of strings and brass on everything, even woodwinds (which I can't recall the last time I heard an oboe on anything). Also, for this kind of music, the singer is singing about things I want to hear: "silvery lakes" and "dusty libraries". And woeful phrases like "In your eyes, there's sadness enough to kill the both of us".

Here's a clip of the single. If you like this, then I highly recommend getting the album. It's one of those rare ones where I enjoy every song. Some of the songs are actually really upbeat and happy, I swear.