Combining girl group sweetness, classic Brill Building songcraft, sweeping orchestral pop, and intimate lyrical concerns, the duo of Tracyanne Danny truly took the best elements of their own respective projects on their 2018 self-titled debut album. Danny is Danny Coughlan, who released fine, Roy Orbison-inspired music under the name Crybaby, Tracyanne is Tracyanne Campbell, the driving force behind one of the most acclaimed indie pop bands of the 2000s, Camera Obscura.

The two singer/songwriters crossed paths in the early 2010s when Campbell, impressed by Crybaby's debut self-titled album from 2012, asked if Coughlan would open a string of shows for Camera Obscura. The pair hit it off musically and swapped song ideas with an eye toward collaborating in the future. That idea was put on hold while Camera Obscura headed to the studio to record their 2013 album Desire Lines, then spent time promoting it. After the tragic death of Campbell's bandmate, and best friend, Carey Lander, from cancer in 2015, Camera Obscura took a break from making music and Campbell focused on mourning and her family. Coughlan hadn't forgotten the musical bond they'd formed and he sent her a song idea on a taped-over Smiths' cassette. She sent back a handwritten note inviting the Bristol-based Coughlan to visit her in Glasgow and work on the song. One song turned into an album's worth, and the duo decided to record them. Heading to Edwyn Collins' studio in a remote area of Scotland, they were joined by keyboardist Carwyn Ellis, drummer Stacey Hampson, a string section, a pedal steel player, and the horns of co-producer Sean Read, who'd most recently worked with Dexys Midnight Runners. The other half of the production team was Collins, and he provided vocals on "Alabama," a touching ode to Lander. The self-titled effort was released by Merge in May of 2018 and the duo went on a short two-week tour soon after. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi