The Hidden Cameras - Origin: Orphan

Ambition ain’t a trait you’d immediately associate with The Hidden Cameras. Their 2006 longplayer Awoo was a straight-up, unashamed twee-fest, expelling tunes so infectious it could have caused a pandemic. Jaunty, yes, but ambitious? Nae chance. Album number five will no doubt alter such dismissive preconceptions. Escaping the trappings of jingle-jangle bliss, Origin: Orphan is strewn with labyrinthine arrangements that reach for the stars but never quite take off. By removing simplicity from their repertoire, the Canadian ensemble plod through laboured opuses like Ratify The New and Walk On with all the direction of a compass-bereft rambler in the Rockys. At least the cutesy He Falls To Me and The Little Bit bear some semblance of cohesion, but the afro-rhythmic abomination of The Underage strikes a nadir in a record marred by lulls. By all means applaud their ardour, just don’t expect it to have any substance. [Billy Hamilton]