<strong>Camera </strong><br/><strong> Obscura</strong><br/><strong> Desire Lines</strong><br/><strong>4AD</strong><br/><strong> <span class="s1">****</span></strong> Our favourite twee-poppers are back. The Glaswegian sextet have steadily built a cult following courtesy of four gorgeous albums that are simultaneously dreamy and heartbreaking. The calling card is Tracyanne Campbell’s crystalline voice. She is that starry-eyed dreamer in the habit of falling foul of love but ultimately saved by unshakable optimism. <em>Desire Lines</em> continues in that emotional vein with another set of finely tuned baroque-pop numbers blending <span class="s1">all sorts of flavours from Motown to post-punk. While the previous offering, <em>My Maudlin Career</em>, found the group at their most symphonic, <em>Desire Lines</em> is less bombastic, focusing on craftsmanship more than pastiche. </span> <span class="s1">The sweet opener <em>This Is Love </em>is led by vintage horn riffs that could have came straight from an Otis Redding recording. The horns continue in the aching<em> I Missed Your Party </em>while in <em>Cri Du Coeur,</em> delicate emotion is matched by the fingerpicked strings. The standout track on the album, the breezy <em>Troublemaker</em> encapsulates the whole affair. Campbell’s turmoil is always laced with hope: “I fall down like a tonne of bricks / What makes me sick won’t make me quit.”</span> <span class="s2"><a href="mailto:sasaeed@thenational.ae">sasaeed@thenational.ae</a></span> Follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thenationalArtsandLife">Facebook</a> for discussions, entertainment, reviews, wellness and news. Follow us
