Unfortunately, it’s all a bit too depressing. The cumulative effect of Tracyanne’s monotonous singing and the tortuously slow tune add up to one big misery-fest! You get free bonus extra depression just by watching the video. In fairness, the video is a pretty good pastiche of performance videos from the 60’s onward.

I am tempted to draw comparisons between Camera Obscura and their fellow Scots, Belle And Sebastian. Chalk and cheese are the words I’ll use. While I found The Life Pursuit to be a great, upbeat album, Tears is the complete opposite. Dreary, dull and uninspiring.

I don’t like doing negative reviews of any band – if you’re a fan, tell us what you like about Camera Obscura in the comments…set the record straight!