Released this week is Lightspeed Champion's follow up to 2008's 'Falling Off The Lavender Bridge', nicely titled 'Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You'. If you haven't heard Dev Hynes before, then after this album, you'll be glad he met you. Recorded at the end of 2009 in Brooklyn with Ben Allen (Gnarles Barkley, Animal Collective), Lightspeed's sophomore album showcases how far he has come and developed since those Test Icicles days.
The country vibe to his first album (which was one of my favourites from 2008) has been swapped for chamber pop, and indie style opera, which sounds crazy, but it works for Lightpseed - the man can get away with alot, he's that talented. You almost feel he could try his hand at anything and produce quality music.
Opener 'Dead Head Blues' is a great start and sets the tone for the album. The emotional angst on display set against an America Wild West backdrop shows how Hynes can now showcase how far he's developed. This leads on to single 'Marlene' which is just amazing, complex lyrics with a huge number of musical styles; western, shredding guitar solo's and pop rock. Acoustic guitars and violins dominate the middle of the album, along with electric piano interludes before the melody and male choirs build up to the climax of the album, full of heartbreak anthems.
'Life Is Sweet!..' has been produced really well, and with Lightspeeds imagination and scope, that is a hard thing to do. I could not say where he'll go after this, what sort of album he can do to top this, but I'm not too bothered at the moment, I'm just glad I have this album to enjoy.
