They may have the ideal name for a misery-laden Emo band, but at least the title of this debut album points us away from Fall Out Boy territory. A Singer Must Die are in fact French duo Philippe Le Guern and Manuel Ferrer, although if their Gallic origins encourage Air or Daft Punk comparisons then you�d best put those out of your mind, too. If you�re looking for an image to conjure them up, try The Beautiful South covering The Smiths instead. With a French accent.
Opener �The Fallow Land� is as slow and mournful as you�d expect, although the pace does pick up (slightly) with the likes of �The Crash� and the decidedly non-French sounding �Croydon Road�. It�s in their slower, more mournful numbers that they�re at their strongest, though, and there can surely be no more depressing title than album closer �In A Hovel�. Unfortunately every so often a clumsy lyrical moment will clunk into place just as they begin to soar, or Manuel�s accent will struggle with the English vowel sounds, dragging the songs down to a mundane level again. There are some moments of real sparkle, but with no single tune escaping their shortcomings it�s ultimately an unsatisfying experience. Maybe they should have been an Emo band after all.