Camera Obscura: Going Over the Top

We've been locked away for the past year or so. It's not as bad as it sounds, 'cause we've been keeping busy. First we were locked away in Glasgow getting ready to make the new record, then we were locked away in Stockholm making the new record. Then the record got locked away until we sorted out a wee home for it. And finally, for the past few months we've been locked away in Glasgow rehearsing to play live again.

Next week however, we're getting let out. Time off for good behaviour. We thought the new album might not be released until autumn, but lo' and behold, it's out next month, and didn't we half have to get our skates on! It's nearly three years since Let's Get Out Of This Country came out and it seems like forever; we're bursting to let people hear the record, and get out and play live.

You forget, you see. You forget just how nervous you get waiting for a new record to come out; how great it feels when the first single comes off the album, and your mates text you to say they just heard it on the radio. You forget what it's like getting 90 emails a day telling you what you've got coming up, where you're going next week, reminding you to do all the things you're supposed to have sorted out but haven't quite got round to. Of course, you forget to pack half the things you meant to take with you on tour and end up having to buy most of it whilst you're away (who needs 15 travel plug adapters and 5 mobile phone chargers?). That's where we're at just now: remembering how it all feels.

So, My Maudlin Career is imminent. You might have heard French Navy on the wireless, or seen the video on YouTube, or the website, or even the telly. You might even have heard us in session (I'm writing this as we travel down to the BBC in Manchester to play live on Marc Riley's show tonight). It's all go, and we're about to make our return as road hogs: we play a wee show in London next week; have five shows at SXSW in Austin; a couple of New York gigs; and then proper tours and weeks in a variety of vans, venues and hotels.

A t-shirt printer we used in the US once said to us, "You guys are Rock Soldiers!" So this is us, going over the top. The big push! And aren't we half excited.