Lightspeed Champion: Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You, in a Roundup of Reviews

By Michael Lopez Wed., Feb. 17 2010 at 7:52 AM

Categories: Review Roundup

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Lightspeed Champion - Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You

For those living in a cave or in a constant state of denial, this past Sunday was Valentine's Day. It seems fitting, then, that British singer/songwriter/jack-of-all-trades Devonte Hynes -- the heart and soul of Lightspeed Champion -- has released his second album, the delightfully named Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You. Since breaking free from British indie punkers Test Icicles, Hynes has gone on to craft an impressive solo career, writing songs overflowing with a genuine quality one would be hard-pressed to find these days. Hynes, however, makes it all look easy, and he has donned his boots and cowboy hat for his second album, bringing a Midwestern charm to his undeniably brilliant love songs.

What this critic says: "With his cowboy boots and 10-gallon hat in tow, Devonte Hynes has crafted a fantastic follow-up to 2008's Falling Off The Lavender Bridge. Where his first album established Hynes' incredible talent for writing a song, Life Is Sweet! shows just how talented a composer the British wunderkind truly is. Life Is Sweet! shows how variegated and inspired Hynes' composition is with nearly 50 minutes of upbeat, heartfelt and serious songs about any number of topics: our biggest fears, feeling sad and the theorem of Pythagorus."

Pitchfork: "For better and worse, Lightspeed's sophomore album plays like a product of Hynes' restlessness. Alternately inspired and frustrating, it addresses themes of lost love (and lost chicness) with Queen-size 70s-rock pomp, neoclassical interludes, and one ukulele-based chamber-pop song."

Drowned In Sound: "What this second Lightspeed LP reveals is a craftsman deliberately and painstakingly raising his songwriting game one chord change at a time....Life Is Sweet is the sound of an artist meticulously applying his blossoming maturity through multiform song structures and cloudier, less transparent lyrics. The impressive - if somewhat chewy - result may well feel more dogged than puppyish on this outing, but I for one am happy to take that as a declaration of real intent from one of the UK's most consistently intriguing current young songwriters."

Rock Sound: "This second full-length effort from the former Test Icicles man is a grandiose affair....There's no filler here, even the short instrumental numbers deserve their place as they break up the album into chapters. A surprisingly good follow-up, 'Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You' is essential listening."

The Guardian: "And what the songwriter (he's recently written for Solange Knowles and X Factor's Diana Vickers) does - simple country-twinged, piano/guitar music - he does very well....But it's Hynes's charm that shines through. How could it not, with lines like the Dead Head Blues' couplet - "I know you're happy ... and I think that's lovely"?"

Life Is Sweet!, Nice To Meet You is out today on Domino.

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