Williams, Devon / Sufferer

Slumberland

Over the last few years, Los Angeles-based musician Devon Williams has worked with folk / performance band Lavender Diamond, played with up-and-coming power-pop sensations The Champagne Socialists, and developed and recorded his own baroque pop songs under his own name. Ably abetted by friends Allen Bleye and Greg Arnold, Williams spent a year and a half painstakingly piecing together a beautiful, coherent set of songs to form one unique album. The fruit of this labor was the brilliant album Carefree, released in 2008 on Ba Da Bing. Demonstrating a knack for crafting timeless pop that's equal parts Brill Building and Topanga Canyon, Williams hearkens back to great songwriters like Nilsson, Chilton, Downes, and Westerberg. Buoyed by wall-of-sound production, economical arrangements, and a wealth of 12-string jangle, Carefree is a perfect pop record in the truest sense, a record bursting with melody that rewards repeated listens. On this excellent new single, a taster for his upcoming Slumberland album, "Sufferer" adds a bit of new wave flavor to the mix, the chorused and reverb-laden guitars reminiscent of mid-period Cure or even Teardrop Explodes. The tune is another future Williams classic, instantly memorable and charming with its driving elegance. "Who Cares About Forever" also impresses, a slow-dance simmer with a wonderful melody and soaring, spare guitar jangle. Both songs reinforce Williams' status as one of Slumberland's finest song-writers and arrangers, and are ample evidence that his next album will be something quite special indeed. Until then, give this single a spin or three and be sure to catch him on tour with Outrageous Cherry this fall.

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