‘And there's blood on my knuckles 'cause there's money in the trunk/ Keep running out of luck, keep running out of luck’: the lyrics are certainly gritty on “Runnin' Outta Luck”, the third glimpse of Aussie singer-songwriter Alex Cameron’s dark and danceable" sophomore album, Forced Witness (out now, via Secretly Canadian). Under ‘an apocalyptic glare’, Cameron attempts to keep a love affair with ‘a stripper out of luck’ on life support. (This Las Vegas-esque trope might have been inspired by the Killers frontman Brandon Flower, who co-wrote the song with Cameron and his saxophonist Roy Molloy).
A ‘neon boneyard’ does not seem like a particularly stark final resting ground, however, alluding to Cameron’s well-known penchant for placing down-and-out character sketches - that seem better suited for blues, country and folk songs - within a sleek and precise synth-pop and neo-electronica production that makes you want to embark on a happy-go-lucky song-and-dance routine. This time, the gap between the song’s sunny melody and Cameron’s world-weary narrative is narrowed by a heady hit from the fiery comet of love: ‘the smoke from your fire's going straight to my head’.
He may have doubts and fears of being abandoned, but Molloy’s saxophone bridge and Cameron’s confident vocals (and his decision to ditch the fake wrinkles) transform this tale of woe into a heartwarming carpe diem tune that stays with you after the song ends. As Cameron put it himself, it is best to believe that luck is just lurking around the next corner:
“Bein’ far from a millionaire doesn’t mean you can’t live like a millionaire and success doesn’t always hinge on good luck, it can be about other people’s bad luck. Brandon was in a bind with his lyrics, and we were in a bind with our never having come close to a radio hit”.
Given the strength of his recent output, the Sydney showman might soon have to do away with the meta aspects of his performance (the exaggerated dance moves, slicked back straight hair, and washed out jeans caricature a down-and-out small time performer) to embrace a more conventional image of indie rock stardom.
