Lightspeed Champion – Bye Bye EP

What do I think of Lightspeed Champions’ new EP? Well, it’s not what I expected considering the last song of his that I heard was about puking into another girl’s mouth (‘Marlene’). But then I guess when you’re taking a bit of musical direction from former Beach Boys’ producer Van Dyke Parks, you can’t really expect everything to stay the same.

Upon first listening of the four-tracked release entitled Bye Bye though, I sort of wished that Brian Wilson and Dev Hynes had never met. Or at least, that they had perfected ‘Til I Die’ and then left it at that. Because while said opening track (a cover of a Beach Boys track if you didn’t already know) showcases a more angelic side to Dev Hynes voice, and yeah, at times, makes me feel like I’m wading through the bottom of an ocean in a dream-like state (which is nice, SFA-esque even), the following three tracks totally taint these newfound feelings (and with all things BAD).

First of all, the orchestra that have been roped in as a backing troop do not play in time. And secondly, in my opinion, they also play far too loudly. Sure, bring in some new instruments and experiment a little, but when you’ve put vocals into a song, I wanna hear them, and when twenty off-kilter violins erupt in the background and then continue right up until the final note, it makes it hard to hear, well, anything really. ‘Underwater There Is Nothing’ showcases perfectly this unruly-school-orchestra vibe. ‘Bye Bye Icarus’ makes my back feel weird because the violins and accordion of the orchestra bring to mind old-fashioned fairgrounds full of dead people. French dead people (it has a sort of continental feel).

If I had to choose which of the final three I would like to listen to again, it would probably be the finale ‘The Mess You’re In’ (but not if I had to listen to the two before first). And the reason I would choose this is not because it’s the shortest, nor because, weirdly, it starts to sound a bit like Mumford and Sons’ ‘The Cave’, half way through, but  because it’s the only track  after the first where Dev Hynes’ vocals appear to be back at the forefront (just about). And for me, Dev Hynes’ vocals are surely the very best thing about a Lightspeed Champion record, additional violins or not.

Basically, if you like the idea of your favourite story-telling singer dumping his band and teaming up with a fast-paced orchestra, or if you’re curious as to how it might sound if you started *tripping* during an older Lightspeed Champion set, you will enjoy this. If you loved (like me) hearing Dev Hynes’ heartfelt vocals at the forefront of all of his records complete with piano lines, upbeat guitars and a drum rhythm, (see anything off Life is Sweet! Nice To Meet You!), you’ll probably class this as a bit of a team fail. And you will probably stop listening after the first three minutes and twenty seconds too.

Helen Weatherhead