Sufferer

VINYL FORMAT. 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.

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.