camera obscura - "lloyd, i'm ready to be heartbroken" (from the hey lloyd, i'm ready to be heartbroken single, released may 9, available for purchase here.)

girls, be careful what you wish for : ask the lonely. i can understand the sentiment, the desire to feel something when you can't see "further than your nose." just last week, after the tempest, i was thinking, "hey dad, i'm ready for a sharp kick to the ribs," just to bring back what seemed like distant memories of sensation.

i've liked camera obscura before, but they often do sound like a band for people who thought belle & sebastian jumped the shark w/ the legal man e.p.

here, though, they've really got something wonderful. the "lloyd" in question is not lloyd dobler, but lloyd cole, though one could understand such a mix-up, while the song is a reply to mssr. cole's "are you ready to be heartbroken?"

it has the rush and sweep of lloyd's rattlesnakes, not to mention orchestration favorably comparable to anne dudley's work on that album. the overall effect is as if summer turned to fall w/ one fell swoop. the chorus tugs just as much, esp. near the end as the "hey"s become more desperate. "are you ready to be heartbroken?" is the question i'd ask of anyone considering hearing this song.