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Jun 4, 2013Here it results in some of their best and most confident work to date.
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May 30, 2013This is pop music with a real soul to it, and Camera Obscura have bared it magnificently.
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Jun 4, 2013The result is the purest late-night album that Camera Obscura has recorded yet.
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Jun 7, 2013Desire Lines is another gorgeously-crafted pop record from a band that make them look easy; melody, harmony and sophistication are all present in abundance.
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Jun 7, 2013Camera Obscura are old enough to know what they’re are capable of, and they do it passionately and with a practiced hand.
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MojoJul 10, 2013Desire Lines is the immaculately conceived album they've always threatened to make. [Aug 2013, p.92]
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Q MagazineJun 17, 2013In upbeat pop mode, the quintet are impressive, but when slipping downtempo into ballads, Camera Obscura are in a league of their own. [Jul 2013, p.100]
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Jun 13, 2013Desire Lines sits with remarkable ease next to Camera Obscura albums released a decade ago.
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Jun 5, 2013It’s lyrically strong and musically tight--even as it drifts and frolics as easily as kite.
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Jun 4, 2013With little (if anything) to fret about, Desire Lines is as breathtaking as its inviting.
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Jun 4, 2013Campbell’s resplendent tone delights with the plaintive cry of classic torch singers; instead or feeling pity or sympathy, we’re now in the presence of a commanding performer who doesn’t have to sacrifice an inch of naiveté to make an impression.
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Jun 3, 2013Desire Lines refurbishes '50s pop, turning it into modern classics filled with unabashedly lovely melodies, just the way Camera Obscura want it, and just what we've come to expect, and love, about them.
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Jun 3, 2013Throughout, the record oozes an elegant stream of sophistication and songwriting nous, backed up by a rich, clearly well-thought out and measured Tucker Martine production.
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May 31, 2013There aren’t many groups whose fifth album is as riveting as their first, but there also aren’t many groups with a vision as clear, focused and defined as that of Camera Obscura. And with Campbell at the helm, five more of the same will be just as welcome.
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May 31, 2013More so than any other Camera Obscura record, Desire Lines taps into a girl group aesthetic--that is, lushly arranged songs about scorned lovers and keeping hope alive, always with a bit of advice thrown in, or at the very least a lesson learned.
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May 30, 2013What feels different this time is the elegance and assurance of the music.
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UncutMay 30, 2013CO's fifth album clothes Campbell's vignettes of thwarted romance in increasingly sophisticated arrangements. [Jul 2013, p.72]
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Sep 5, 2013Camera Obscura's done it again.
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Jun 4, 2013It isn’t business as usual, either; these songs sound grander without losing their quaintness and some tread unfamiliar ground.
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Jun 7, 2013More deeply satisfying than extraordinary, it seems unlikely to displace anyone's favorite Camera Obscura record, but neither is it a negligible entry in one of the smartest and most loveable discographies in contemporary indie-pop.
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Jun 18, 2013Desire Lines is undoubtedly a Camera Obscura album, but it might be their first that is more suited to quiet winter nights inside, rather than the sunny side of things that dominated their sound on their previous albums.
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Jun 4, 2013The album also has a few sleepy spots (“New Year’s Resolution,” “I Missed Your Party”), which causes it to drag on occasion. Still, Desire Lines is the rare record that sounds comfortable and familiar, but yet isn’t derivative.
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Jun 5, 2013Desire Lines is a silver lining record, one that isn’t particularly compelling (especially relative to My Maudlin Career, which felt like new emotional territory for the band), but is impressively maintained.
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Jun 3, 2013By no means their best effort, Desire Lines is nevertheless a pleasurable listen.
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Jun 3, 2013Desire Lines lacks the hooks of their best work, with no obvious hits.
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May 31, 2013Produced in understated manner by Tucker Martine, the songs' clean pop lines are revealed with the minimum of decorative detail.
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May 30, 2013This is at once an enjoyable effort and an opportunity missed.
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Jun 6, 2013Yet even Campbell can’t save Desire Lines from coming off as creatively stagnant, just as pretty as ever but overwhelmingly pedestrian.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 10
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Mixed: 0 out of 10
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Negative: 0 out of 10
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Jun 5, 2013