I will never not love Beirut. And maybe if you haven’t always loved Beirut, this album will be your ticket in. Perfect fall music, anyone?!?!
Beirut/The Rip Tide/Pompeii/2011
The Rip Tide is Beirut’s third studio album. Clocking in at only 33 minutes and offering nine songs, Zac Condon continues to produce interesting music most notably influenced from the Eastern European folk tradition. Critics are calling this the most ‘restrained’ album that Beirut has released, with the perfect amount of experimentation with horns, strings, accordions, ukuleles, and other instruments . “East Harlem” (track 3) is sure to be the “Postcards from Italy” from 2006’s critically acclaimed Gulag Orkestar (although very different in tone- “East Harlem” is much more upbeat). Also to note, Sharon van Etten joins Condon for two songs (tracks 1 & 5) in an almost unnoticeable way, with her harmonizing adding to the immense volume of nearly every Beirut song. Condon continues to impress listeners with interesting music compositions, heartbreakingly honest song lyrics, and a really beautifully full romantic sound. This is a really lovely album.
Recommended: 1, 3, 4, 7, 9
FCC: clean
