David Turpin is very much alive and we have been assured that he is, by nature, reasonably punctual. However, Turpin officially died for approximately 28 seconds, with the result that his band moniker is both accurate and tongue-in-cheek at the same time.
Taking its inspiration from the Old Testament (Elllesiastes 3:19), as well as disco (‘The Hotel’), choral music from the early 20th century (‘That’s What Tears Are For’) and, apparently, old Walt Disney soundtracks, We Belong Dead, Turpin’s third album is a weird, lyrical journey through an electronic dreamscape where beds are “expectant, like the mouths of graves awaiting occupants”. At times it feels like The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe put to music, with enough forests, beasts and assorted denizens of the dark to keep kids awake at night.
The music generally occupies the electronic sphere. Sometimes, it’s genuinely unsettling, like the off-kilter liquidity of ‘Never To Be Found Again’, but for the most part we’re inhabiting the same country of gently ululating beats and wavy synths inhabited by a low-key Pet Shop Boys rather than the up-for-it-ness of those Daft Punks.
Turpin ropes in a host of musical accomplices, including Villagers mainman Conor O’Brien on guitar, Cora Venus Lunny on strings and Cathy Davey on vocals – the latter memorably shares vocal duties with a donkey on the superb ‘Like Bird And Beast’. Other highlights include the lo-fi fairy tale ‘Bear Of A Star’, hirsute love song ‘Fur’ (“Don’t you know how love can grow, follicle by follicle?”), the heart-tearing ‘The Ballad Of Essential Difference’ and the terrifying ‘Fossils’, where Turpin’s nightmarish lyrics contrast with the easy listening musical backdrop.
It must be said that, at 17 tracks, some judicious editing would’ve done no harm (‘Garland’, ‘Deer Fable’), and sometimes it’s a little too clinical for its own good (‘The Man Suit’, ‘The Anaesthetist’), but for the most part, We Belong Dead’s greatest achievement is that it lives up to the weight of Turpin’s grand ambition.

Key Track: 'Like Bird And Beast'