Thursday, June 14, 2018

Tracyanne & Danny - Tracyanne & Danny (Merge, 2018)


Tracyanne & Danny
Tracyanne & Danny
Merge
2018

Rating: 8 focused camels out of 10

I truly can’t imagine anyone having anything bad to say about this Tracyanne & Danny record…it’s the musical equivalent of purring cat in your lap on a cozy Sunday afternoon.  Tracyanne is the golden-voiced Tracyanne Campbell of twee pop superstars Camera Obscura, a group whose future has been in limbo since the tragic death of keyboardist Carey Lander – wherein we must note, as if it needs to be said, fuck cancer.  I’ve been a Camera Obscura fan since they came on the scene in the early 2000s, and I would probably buy a record of Tracyanne singing CSPAN transcripts, so my love of this was pretty close to certain.  The only wildcard was the other half of the duo, Danny Coughlan of Crybaby, a band/performer I knew not a single damn thing about.  Tracyanne still dominates the vocals (or at least it feels that way), but Danny adds a nice counter-balance with his deep, smooth tones; he also knows his range, and doesn’t try to do too much thinking he can musically keep up with her.  Honestly, this isn’t terribly different from the sixties twee vibes  of Camera Obscura in their later years…just with more male vocals really.  If you’re a sensitive person at all, good luck not tearing up a little bit listening to the country-tinged “Alabama,” their tribute to Lander…I’m not even a lyric person usually, but this one really hits me right in the feels.  

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