Word: musicals
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...lives in New York City. Within his artistic career it’s even more apparent. Hynes, also known as “Lightspeed Champion,” a name culled from a series of comic strips he once drew, has performed in just about every genre of music imaginable. His last group, Test Icicles, performed a combination of dance and punk, but now he performs his own blend of folk and indie rock, along with occasionally random sidesteps like an album entirely devoted exclusively to Green Day covers...
...difficult to classify. It is too emotionally charged to be relaxed, but too relaxed to be emotionally moving. Hynes has settled down from the first Lightspeed Champion album, 2008’s “Falling off Lavender Bridge,” in which quiet and underwhelming music masked angry self-loathing lyrics. However, “Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You” is a confused record. It is comprised of angry break-up ballads and swelling choruses interspersed with gentler piano sonatas and strummed ukuleles. The album’s lyrics are often predictably regular, which...
...musical variety is the greatest strength of “Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You.” No two tracks sound even vaguely similar and this serves to liven up a lyrically simple album. When this music isn’t enough to carry the song, though, the lyrics are too thin to pick up the burden, and the track quickly falls flat. Most choruses are excessively simple—eight or nine word phrases that are repeated over and over again for the length of time necessary between equally short verses...
...reiterates how Hynes’ talent for creating exciting and highly detailed melodies is the key to the album’s success. Fluttering higher scales are transposed over nostalgic lower chords reminiscent of spring days, a testament to the beauty Hynes’s music can achieve when left alone, with no lyrics to distract from its elegance...
...Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You” is an enjoyable album with moments of true elegance and beauty. The instrumental numbers—which comprize four out of the 15 tracks—are all lovely, and when Hynes focuses on this aspect of his music, the album is exceptional. Unfortunately, when the instrumental innovation falls away, the lyrics rarely have the depth or character to engage, and Lightspeed Champion sadly slips into the shadows...