Review:

on 2010-03-04 joechuck_norris Said:

Dev is a busy bee. Following his first release, "Falling Off the Lavender Bridge," he moved to New York, had vocal surgery and wrote an entire album. (He also has a metric TON of material released on his site & a side project called Blood Orange). The result is "Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You" - a classically tinged indie pop folk whatever.
It's obvious that Dev likes to dabble in variety. The first album was Americana/Saddle-Creek influenced. For this recent album, there are piano etudes and a larger presence of classical influence. The often stabbing strings in the background give me a disco feel. Think E.L.O. and Queen. The first single, "Marlene" is a testament to this thought. What stands out above the classical influence are his shredding twang guitars and abstract lyrics: "Stick a spoon into your heart, and eat away all you deutschmarks / Your money don't mean a damn thing, I'm wearing everything I own / Stop being cool."
Amidst all the dashing lyrics and eclectic instrument, there is a tone of swelling; and it never fully bursts. With that being said, the lack of realization could be a good or bad thing. The album is very dependent on the mood Dev was in when he wrote it, and as a result we are presented with a diverse-ambient piece.
Rating: 8/10