reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge

All those wags that credited/blamed Test Icicles vocalist Devonte Hynes for that now-defunct experimental act's occasional lapses into catchiness turned out to be right. The first proper full-length from his new focus makes good on the strummy promise of early stripped-down singles, delivering an engagingly eccentric blend of dynamic chamber pop and idiosyncratic yet organic indie-folk. Hynes, a resident of Scotland, came to Omaha to work with Mike Mogis and an impressive chunk of the Saddle Creek crew; their influence and contributions are both conspicuous in the style and instrumentation of Lavender Bridge – the nine-minute centerpiece “Midnight Surprise” and quieter fare like “Devil Tricks for A Bitch” and “Let The Bitches Die” recall Bright Eyes (whose Connor Oberst isn't featured), Tilly & The Wall (whose Kianna Alarid and Derek Pressnall are), and even the formerly Saddle Creek-associated Rilo Kiley. But Hynes' quirky vision shines through all the collaborative mutual admiration, to create a set that's both original and comfortably familiar. – Scott Harrell