The Camera Loves Me

Mike Alway met then 18-year-old Jessica Griffin backstage at a Monochrome Set show in 1983, and while his initial idea was to manufacture a group around Griffin and her sister Miranda, it soon became apparent that was she was a talented singer and songwriter who needed little direction to fit into él Records’ world.  “All I did was suggest a few song titles and get [in house photographer] Nick Wesolowski to take a few photographs,” he later recalled. Backed by uncredited members of The Monochrome Set, the vibe on debut LP The Camera Loves Me is breezy and stylish – François Hardy visiting Swinging London and taking a stroll through Regent’s Park. With references to high society photographer Cecil Beaton, cream cakes and cult 60s film The Girl on a Motorcycle, the album has been cited as a key inspiration for the “twee” indie pop epitomised by Sarah Records, but for its occasional archness, Griffin’s writing is too astute, the arrangements too sophisticated for The Camera Loves Me to fall into mannered cutesiness.