By: Michael Hernandez/Columnist
Zach Condon, lead singer of pop-folk group Beirut.
, sings “sound will bring me home again,” in the soft and steady building track “East Harlem” on a brisk 33-minute LP by Beirut called “The Rip Tide.”
The group’s third LP puts the element of swirling, pumping horns with Condons’ crooning vibrato. None of the instrumentation on the album is superfluous though, as this is a sweetly coaxed package. Condon has crafted an elegant summer album that can feel airy and deep all at once, depending on what you want to discern from your listen.
From his aspiring debut “Gulag Orkestar” to the worldly, chanson-inspired follow-up “The Flying Club Cup,” Condon has demonstrated wealthy amounts of musicianship. Now, at the ripe age of 25, his maturation in songwriting is increasingly apparent. “The Rip Tide” does not go for splash or something grandiose, but hones it back with its accordion and ukulele accompaniment. It is rich in its simplicity and Condon knows how to craft charming songs. Triumphant trumpets and a rattling drum pattern layer “A Candle’s Fire,” which breaks into Condon’s rich voice. He sways back and forth through the track that leads to a soaring cacophony of sounds in the bridge and shuts down with the same rattling snare. There are varied levels of enjoyment on this album, but “A Candle’s Fire” personifies the album.
The most jubilant song might be the pop-folk “Santa Fe.” The trademarks of Beirut — horns, strings and piano — are retained but are now joined together in blissful merriment. Condon declares in the chorus, “Sign me up Santa Fe,” as the trifecta of sounds that accompany his feel-good lyrics. Go ahead and bob your head along with the repeating synths and sunny harmonies of the song, I will not judge you. Condon knows how to arrange it all, and with the third track in this entry, “East Harlem,” that similar rhythm and punctuation on composition is intact. These songs are instantaneously accessible and relatable since they are inspired after his homes; he grew up in Sante Fe and currently resides in New York.
Condon himself has called this a back to basics sort of album because he did not want his influences to be so bare and forthright. With a clear direction, Condon has crafted an album with delicate melodies that are enjoyable, fresh and compelling. “Goshen” showcases Condon’s vibrato in a natural way with a teary piano backdrop that reaches the brass crescendo that is accustomed to Beirut. “Payne’s Bay” and “The Rip Tide” carry on the pace of the album in a modest tone, but picks right back up with “Vagabond,” another up-tempo hooky song. This album could have ended on the melancholic track “The Peacock,” which would have given it a bittersweet sendoff but instead Condon closes it off with “Port of Call” where he encapsulates the album into one song. It begins with a smooth ukulele, with him projecting his rich voice while the piano and brass progressively join the fray and sways you back and forth until it reaches its completion. Condon has gone back and forth in the creative process and has reached a focal point in his career. At 25, I envy him.
Whether you listen to Beirut on the shore of the beach or when it is used as interpretive dance music on the reality TV show “So You Think You Can Dance”- this really happened- it will connect to you with its enchanting disposition. “The Rip Tide” is the most personal and rooted as Condon will get, but it is exactly where he wants to be. As he told www.thequietus.com, “I feel like I have found a musical home with this record. And it was always there. I guess I was growing up.” The sound has finally caught up with him, and a little over half-an-hour spent with “The Rip Tide” shows that sentiment come into fruition. It is nothing distinctively new or even as daring as past projects, but it feels more inspired than his last compositions. It is a fitting album to end the summer with. It takes you to a warm, free-flowing time that takes you to different locals as it goes through dramatic shifts, but in the end, it takes you where you want to be — home.
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