‘French Boyfriend’ is the lead single taken from Alphabetic’s debut album Touch.

Musically pleasing and lyrically playful, ‘French Boyfriend’ has been dubbed “a modern retelling of the Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’ without the murder” as it follows the bitter (and presumably fictitious) inner monologue of co-vocalist and guitarist Walter Heale, sat in his car outside an ex-girlfriend’s apartment in Paris. This is neatly punctuated and complemented by further vocals from Rebecca Lever who voices the thoughts of the victim as she muses about “calling the police again” before deciding instead to “get back into bed to watch some CNN”.

Alphabetic provide a sophisticated form of indie-pop that is as zestful and unabashed as it is catchy. Featuring sumptuous riffs and deep, distinctive vocals – akin to that of The Divine Comedy – whilst raising the all-important and hard-hitting questions such as “what’s so great about French boys anyway?”, ‘French Boyfriend’ is certainly worth a listen.

Alphabetic’s debut album Touch is out now.

Tilda Bywater
@tildabywater