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As the memory of his former band Test Icicles becomes ever more
distant, Dev Hynes is gearing up for a second stab at solo stardom
with his follow up to 2007 album Falling Off The Lavender Bridge.
Where his debut was charming but inconsistent, there is a
noticeable difference this time around. Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet
You is remarkably assured and holds together well. The tracklisting is
slightly misleading, as four of the tracks are short instrumentals,
leaving 11 songs proper.
Things start off well with Dead Head Blues, a gentle track that
builds into an epic piece of drama. Then comes recent single Marlene,
the album's most dynamic song as strings fly around a crunching
bassline like twittering birds taunting a predator. Hynes is being typically playful as he messes about with timings and
structure, but it's altogether tighter than his previous material.
And
there are more stand-out tracks. There's the rollicking mid-tempo
waltz of I Don't Want To Wake Up Alone, the infectious country-lite
pop of Sweetheart and the smoky ballad Smooth Day (At The Library)
complete with crooning harmonies. He hardly puts a foot wrong.
One obvious change is the absence of Emmy The Great, whose
femininity was previously used as a contrast to Hynes. In its place is
the masculinity of a male choir that features on a number of tracks.
They back Hynes up as he plaintively cries "I miss you" on the
gorgeous ukulele-accompanied There's Nothing Underwater, and crop up
repeatedly through the album, adding a sense of grandness.
There's less joking around this time too. No song title comes close to Everyone I
Know Is Listening To Crunk. Lyrically, he still dwells on his loser
status, but it's not as all-consuming as it was previously. The
theatrical The Big Guns Of Highsmith offers a nice touch of
self-awareness as his whinge of how it hurts to be the one who's
always feeling sad is met by a refrain to "oh just stop
complaining".
The question is whether something has been lost in his
transformation. There was an intoxicating appeal about the
higgledy-pigglediness of his debut. Sometimes it felt like he was
making lyrics up on the spot as he rambled on to an uneven meter.
But what comes through now is the strength of the songwriting, and his
willingness to try out new things. While everything about this album
indicates that Hynes has done a lot of growing up, there is still a
sense of fun as well. If his audience can mature with him, there's a
huge amount to enjoy here, and his even keel is to be welcomed. Sweet indeed.
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