Two Tears in Water - LUMI (EMI)

The result of three years' work by Marc Codsi and Mayaline Hage, a presumed couple marketing themselves as "the youngest and most exciting band on the Lebanese scene", Two Tears in Water is disappointingly tame. The smash hit in question is typical: "Beware, beware/You're stepping on my black tail/I scratch you with my red nail/And then I have you as a cocktail". If there is a complex sexual allusion, it is lost on this listener. Of course, one must not expect meaningful lyrics from a band breaking new ground on the Middle Eastern electronic scene - I don't know about Israel, but in the Arab Middle East quite what that is is anyone's guess - yet the fact that, on their MySpace.com page, LUMI stress the political dimension of their work and refer incessantly to their Beiruti identity, might suggest otherwise. If anything, in fact, Two Tears in Water is vaguely reminiscent of I am Electro Boy, the Vince Noir song from The Mighty Boosh. And given the choice, I'd personally take Noir any day.