''My Maudlin Career'' is the fourth studio album by the Scottish

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a aperture, small hole or lens at one side through which an image is 3D projection, projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions su ...

. The album was made available for streaming on 14 April 2009, before being released on 20 April via 4AD. Like its predecessor, the album was produced by

Jari Haapalainen Jari Haapalainen (born 1971) is a Finnish-Swedish musician, songwriter and producer.The Bear Quartet The Bear Quartet was a cult indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term b ...

. The string and horn arrangements are by

Björn Yttling Björn Daniel Arne Yttling (born 16 October 1974 in Umeå, Sweden) is a Swedish music producer, songwriter, and musician. His production and songwriting credits include Lykke Li, Chrissie Hynde, Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand, Sahara Hotnights, A ...

, of

Peter Bjorn and John Peter Bjorn and John are a Swedish indie pop/rock band formed in Stockholm in 1999, named after the first names of the band's members: Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriks ...

Critical reception

The critical response to ''My Maudlin Career'' was generally positive. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a favorable score of 80, based on 25 reviews. Music critic Tim Sendra of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called the album "almost an exact copy of their previous album" but added "Really, the group could go on remaking it for years to negligible complaints from their fans and very few diminishing returns." Gareth Grundy of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' called the album more polished and poised than the band's previous work. Kevin Liedel of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' wrote "The result is not nearly as novel or dorkishly handsome as Country, but it still manages to exude addictive gorgeousness... Luckily, for both the album and its audience, the band's perseverance results in hits more often than misses." In his review for ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'', Brian Howe called the string arrangements out of control but praised the album, writing "it sounds more assertive and agile, with increased swing and soul, than ever before. There are still melodies of heart-wrenching simplicity that stick in your head to an almost irritating degree (beware of the dangerously catchy "James"), balanced by songs with longer, more complex and limber melodic phrases."

Track listing

All songs written by

Tracyanne Campbell Tracyanne Campbell (born 18 May 1974) is a Scottish singer and musician who is the lead vocalist of the Glasgow-based indie pop band Camera Obscura. Born in Glasgow, Campbell founded Camera Obscura alongside John Henderson and Gavin Dunbar in 19 ...

Australian tour edition bonus tracks

"The World Is Full Of Strangers" # "

You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven Starting as the B-side of Gene Autry's " Mexicali Rose", penned by Autry, 'You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven' was also popular in Hillbilly jukeboxes and radios in the mid-late 1930s. After the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. ( CBS) purch ...

" # "French Navy (Jim Noir remix)" # "Tougher Than The Rest" # "The Blizzard"

Singles

*"French Navy" (April 13, 2009) **CD (BAD 2912 CD) b/w: "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven" / "French Navy" (

Jim Noir Alan Peter Roberts (born 1982), known professionally as Jim Noir, is an English singer-songwriter from Davyhulme, Greater Manchester. He has released five albums to date: 2005's '' Tower of Love'', 2008's self-titled LP '' Jim Noir'', 2012's '' ...

Remix) **7" vinyl (AD 2912) b/w: "The World Is Full of Strangers" * "Honey in the Sun" (August 2009) **Promo-only CD: Radio Edit / Album Version / Instrumental * "The Sweetest Thing" (November 2, 2009) **7" vinyl (AD 2926) b/w: "

Tougher Than the Rest "Tougher Than the Rest" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 '' Tunnel of Love'' album. It was released as a single in some countries, following " Brilliant Disguise" and the title track, but was not released as a single in the United ...

" (

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

cover) * "The Blizzard" / "Swans" (December 7, 2009) **7" vinyl (AD 2937): "The Blizzard" / "Swans" * "The Nights Are Cold" / "The Sweetest Thing ichard Hawley Remix (May 17, 2010)The Nights Are Cold by Camera Obscura Releases at 4ad.com
/ref> **7" vinyl (AD 3X25)

Chart performance

The album reached number 32 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

after one week of sales. It also broke into the Billboard Top 100 in the US, peaking at number 87. In Scotland, the album reached number 37.

Personnel

– vocals, guitar *Carey Lander – organ, piano *Kenny McKeeve – guitar, background vocals *Gavin Dunbar – bass *Lee Thomson – drums *Britta Persson – background vocals *

Erik Arvinder Erik Arvinder (born 1984) is a Swedish violinist, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, orchestrator and conductor known for his work with artists such as Avicii, Childish Gambino, John Legend, Galantis and deadmau5. Early life and influences A ...

– violin *Jessica Hugosson – violin *Santiago Jiménez – violín *Andreas Forsman – violin *Christopher Öhman – viola *Anna Dager – cello *Anna Landberg Dager – cello *Per "Texas" Johansson – horn *Stefan Persson – trumpet Production notes: *Jari Haapalainen - producer, engineer *Henrik Jonsson – engineer *Pontus Olsson – engineer *Johan Rude – engineer *Björn Yttling – arranger, horn arrangements, string arrangements *Julie Annis – artwork, layout design *Donald Milne – photography

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Camera Obscura (band) albums 4AD albums