Camera Obscura, the coolest Scottish band ever, (tied with Belle and Sebastian, whose lead singer Stuart Murdoch produced Camera Obscura’s first album) recently released a marvelous music video for “Troublemaker,” a track on the band’s new album Desire Lines. The video is a wonderfully ~vintage~ (sorry) tribute to 80s Sci-Fi and includes everything from old school (and highly fashionable) jumpsuits to laser beams shooting out of band members’ eyes. Directed by long-time collaborator Blair Young, “Troublemaker” traces the band and other locals as they explore their native city of Glasgow, sometimes by foot and sometimes by teleportation.
As Camera Obscura’s bassist Gavin Dunbar explains with regard to the video’s theme and direction, “We tend to make videos on a bit of a tight budget, and when it came to making a new video for ‘Troublemaker,’ I was thinking about what summed up the sound of the song: futuristic in an 80s way. Then I thought about what would make a video that looked futuristic in an 80s way and on a tight budget, and British Sci-Fi jumped out at me.” Not only does the band capture the same fuzziness of 80s British Sci-Fi, but some of “Troublemaker’s” shots echo those of Death Watch, a 1980 cult Sci-Fi classic also filmed in Glasgow.
The Sci-Fi concept of Camera Obscura’s video is a perfect accompaniment to the song, which is itself upbeat yet mysteriously mischievous. In the end, the band’s attempt to capture the sentiment of classic British Sci-Fi does not disappoint. As Dunbar states, “We hope we’ve done these shows justice and it recreates a feel that made geeks of so many of us back in the day.”
Camera Obscura is currently on maternity leave, (Tracyanne Campbell recently had a baby WHO MAKES A GUEST APPEARANCE IN THE VIDEO!!) but hopes to make a live return in 2014. Watch the “Troublemaker” video below and to find out more information about the band or their newly released special edition vinyl, check out their website here.
Thanks to 4AD, Camera Obscura & YouTube
Image via YouTube
