Not just one band and one video this week, instead three bands with one man linking them all: the mighty Devonte Hynes. "Who he?" I hear you ask. First appearing on the UK music scene as one of thrash/electronica/indie band Test Icicles, Dev then went on to a solo project influenced by folk and country under the Lightspeed Champion moniker, and more recently has been recording and performing electronica as Blood Orange. He is also rather beautiful and in possession of a good line of hats.
SO hard to choose just one Lightspeed Champion track. His first album, Falling Off The Lavender Bridge, is one of my favourite of the last decade and packed with lovely songs. Midnight Surprise is incredible, with a great steel guitar intro and twisted lyrics like, "wake up and smell the semen," but at almost 10 minutes long like I felt it might not be the ideal introduction to Dev. In the end I went for Dry Lips, which is one of those songs that grabs me by the guts and twists. In a good way. For a miserable track about heartbreak ("tell her/I give up/He's won/And I have lost all") I find it really uplifting, and it will forever remind me of the moment it came onto my iPod as I was walking across the Millenium bridge in London one windy summer's day and gave me one of those perfect, movie moments where you feel like you have a soundtrack to your life.
Circle Square Triangle by Test Icicles: best friend to all indie disco DJs for the way it mixes perfectly with The Rapture's House Of Jealous Lovers, and a massive tune to boot. Makes me want to leap around the dancefloor like I'm 18 instead of well into my 30s.
And finally Blood Orange, his newest project, and a video for Forget It that looks like it cost about 32p to make. I love his vocals, not to mention the pretty guitar arpeggios just after he sings "I am not your saviour". I am SO excited about seeing Blood Orange at Field Day festival in June.
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