I Can See Your House from Here is Camel’s most eclectic album — the first without co-founder Peter Bardens, and the sound of the band embracing the new-wave era while still delivering one of Andrew Latimer’s greatest instrumentals. Released in 1979 behind a famously controversial cover, it ranges from radio pop to electro-pop to symphonic prog, closing with the sublime ten-minute ‘Ice.’

The short version

I Can See Your House from Here (1979) is the seventh studio album by Camel, and the first recorded without founding keyboardist Peter Bardens. It introduced a new line-up — Andrew Latimer, drummer Andy Ward, new bassist Colin Bass and two keyboardists, Kit Watkins and Jan Schelhaas — and, produced by Rupert Hine, it’s the band’s most stylistically varied record, mixing progressive rock, pop, jazz and new wave. It’s best remembered for its provocative sleeve and the magnificent instrumental closer ‘Ice.’

A new line-up

When Peter Bardens left after Breathless, Camel had to rebuild around Andrew Latimer once again. The keyboardists who had toured Breathless departed, and in came two new players: Kit Watkins, of the American prog band Happy the Man, and Jan Schelhaas, formerly of Caravan. Crucially, this album also marked the debut of bassist Colin Bass, who would go on to become the band’s longest-serving member after Latimer himself. With drummer Andy Ward completing the line-up and Rupert Hine producing, the reshaped band recorded the album over the summer of 1979, aided by guests including saxophonist Mel Collins and an orchestral arrangement by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s Simon Jeffes.

The sound

I Can See Your House from Here is Camel’s most eclectic and, to some fans, most divisive album. Reflecting the new-wave era, it swings between styles: the punchy pop of the single ‘Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine,’ the Gary Numan-esque electro-pop of ‘Remote Romance,’ the jazz-prog of ‘Who We Are,’ and the lush orchestration of ‘Survival.’ With two busy keyboardists, the sound is fuller and more restless than the spacious classic Camel of old, and the songwriting leans further toward the mainstream. Yet the band’s progressive heart still beats strongly, above all on the closing instrumental.

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The songs

The album opens with the atmospheric ‘Wait’ and moves briskly through pop, electronica and jazz-tinged prog, from the catchy ‘Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine’ to the futuristic ‘Remote Romance,’ which wittily imagined a virtual-romance future years ahead of its time. ‘Who We Are’ returns to lush, orchestrated prog, but the undisputed highlight is the closer, ‘Ice’ — a ten-minute instrumental built around one of the most beautiful and emotional guitar solos Andrew Latimer ever recorded, reputedly captured in a single take. For many fans, ‘Ice’ alone makes the album essential.

Reception and legacy

I Can See Your House from Here reached number 45 in the UK and launched a successful world tour that took Camel to Japan for the first time. Critically and among fans it remains divisive: some see it as the band diluting their sound to chase the mainstream in the new-wave years, others as a bold, varied and often underrated record. Its cover — a crucified astronaut gazing down at Earth, a witty nod to a popular joke of the day — caused controversy and may have hurt its commercial chances. Whatever one makes of the rest, ‘Ice’ endures as one of Camel’s crowning achievements, and the album marked the arrival of the loyal Colin Bass.

The verdict

I Can See Your House from Here is an intriguing, uneven album that will divide listeners — approach it as Camel’s new-wave-era experiment rather than a classic like Moonmadness, and there’s a lot to enjoy in its variety and ambition. Pop fans and prog fans alike will find something here, and everyone should hear ‘Ice.’ Come above all for that extraordinary closing instrumental — one of the finest showcases for Andrew Latimer’s guitar in the entire Camel catalogue — and enjoy a fascinating snapshot of a great band adapting to a changing world.

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