Lightspeed Champion/ Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You

Lightspeed Champion
Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You
(Domino)

Not many indie artists have a sense of mischief and pranksterism to what they do, but this is precisely the factor that endears Dev Hynes to me: he's got the Prank Factor.
This record swoops down into a theatrical wonderland with 'Tell me What It's Worth' - recalling both Rufus Wainwright and the Little Shop of Horrors Soundtrack, it's a gutter lullaby, staring at the stars. We're offered a mandolin-driven lament with 'There's Nothing Underwater' and piano pop with operatic leanings on 'The Big Guns of Highsmith'.
Yet for all stylistic adventures, a simple sense of theatrical romance holds everything together; the chorus of 'Madam Van Damme' could have been lifted from the era of 1950s puppy love.
This is an enjoyable album, but also one which exists in a strange sort of limbo - it's not quite camp enough to be great fun, or irony-free enough to deliver a major emotional punch.
Still, these are arguably slim pickings when you consider this record as the score to an imaginary indie musical, an idea - perhaps even a stage show in waiting - that's both different and vibrant.