Your first impression of Camphor‘s latest video may simply be that it seems slightly childish. I mean, the thematic elements behind the “Castaway” video include pirates via toys. Despite the somewhat childish Lego-like element, this video with an actual cast would be horrid. But with the toys it works just fine; in fact, add the foggy smoke and it’s pretty damn cool.

In “Castaway”, Camphor’s dark folk-pop melody blends well with the creativity of the video, making it well worth a viewing or two. The lovestruck sailor is swooned by the siren that resides on the barren island, yet instead of her swallowing the sailor’s soul, the ending is… well… much more pleasant. The song and video compliment each other in Camphor’s lyrics, covering A castaway girl in a pirated world.

The song itself mixes soft acoustic folk melodies with various additional pop instrumentation, bowing out at the end with a brazen brass section. Don’t let the folk-y brown Drawn To Dust album cover fool you—Camphor fits right in with the Friendly Fire Recordings pop crowd. Drawn To Dust is out now on Friendly Fire.

This post was originally published April 24, 2008 on the old version of FensePost. Camphor recently released a new track called “Enjoy The Struggle” exclusively on RCRD LBL.

Camphor: Confidences Shattered [mp3]

Camphor: The Sweetest Tooth [mp3]

Camphor – Castaway from friendly fire recordings on Vimeo.