Lightspeed Champion - Midnight Surprise

  by Sarah Maybank

published: 27 / 10 / 2007

Label: Domino Records
Format: CDS

intro

Fantastic single of loved-up, violin drenched, acoustic pop from Lightspeed Champion, the new project of former Test Icicles star Dev Hynes

Don’t try phoning Dev Hynes the day this beyond-charming swirl of loved-up, violin drenched, acoustic pop is released - he’ll be too busy fielding calls from Badly Drawn Boy asking him what his secret is. An achievement like 'Midnight Surprise' more than makes up for the fact Dev was in the worst-named band in the world, the Test Icicles. But you’d be forgiven for believing he’d blown it all with track two, which prog-rockishly stretches the radio edit of the title song to a worrying nine minutes, 53 seconds. Take your finger away from the fast forward button - it's easily dealt with. Just think of it as three separate songs and you’ll actually end up congratulating yourself on getting more bang for your buck. ‘No Surprises’ and ‘The Flesh Failures/Let The Sunshine In’ offer more in the way of unamplified pleasures, so make time to listen to this all at once each time you put it on, and it’ll save you the bother of trying to tear yourself away from it. Oh, extra weirdness Brownie points to Dev for posing on the front cover brandishing a horrible, red miniature guitar and the horrified expression of a Women’s Institute member who’s just been shown nude photos of Prince Charles.

Track Listing:-

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