Joshua Stephenson - 10/25/2011

The story of Zach Condon is a well-known one. Young man travels to Eastern Europe, falls in love with the music and crafts a unique hybrid of it and American Indie. 'The Gulag Orkestar' and 'The Flying Club Call' were albums of depth and uniqueness not seen often in the modern music market. So it comes as a surprise that the groups 3rd full length is the most accessible album they've put out to date, but fortunately it is also one of the catchiest and well-produced albums of the year.

Lead single 'Santa Fe' was a bit of a red herring with its modern electronic feel, harking back to the second half of the 'March of the Zapotec' EP, and its general upbeat tone since the rest of 'The Rip Tide' is quite sombre and melancholic. The title track itself is the best example of this, whilst quite grand with its swirling horns it settles down into a sombre, lonely piano whilst Condon drawls 'This is the house were I feel alone, feel alone now'. It is a gorgeous song that shows the full extent of Condon's rich voice and his penchant for writing a ballad. 'Goshen' is another example of this sombre style with it's solitary piano featuring for most of the song as Condon details a story of failed lovers, before it explodes back into life with horns and militant drums.

It's worth noting that whilst the Eastern European influence may have faded, it is still very much a part of the best moments on the album. Such as in the opening track 'A Candle's Fire' which starts with a sorrowful accordion, before bursting at the seams with these luscious horns, guitar and drums, it's the perfect culmination of all that has come before mixing the uniqueness of Balkan music and American Indie into a 3 minute pop song. 'East Harlem' also does a great job of mixing the two styles as Condon delivers a lovelorn ballad over ukulele; tight piano and those ever present sumptuous horns. It also shows of the fantastic lyricist Condon has developed into 'Another rose wilts in East Harlem/Uptown, downtown/A thousand miles between us/She's waiting for the night to fall/ Let it fall, I'll never make it in time'. The entire album is full of lyrics of wit, melancholy and optimism that collide beautifully with the music around him, whilst allowing him to show off his delightful baroque-like voice that is getting better with each album.

There are some minor missteps, 'Vagabond' is one of the more upbeat tracks but feels quite throwaway and although the strings on 'Payne's Bay' are wonderfully arranged the song itself leaves a bit to be desired. Perhaps The Rip Tide's biggest fault is also it highest compliment in that it is a very brisk album, covering 9 tracks in just 33 minutes it leaves you wanting more in a way previous Beirut albums didn't, but its brevity means the experience is too fleeting to be mesmerising.

Ultimately then 'The Rip Tide' is a wonderfully orchestrated album that brings together Beirut's eastern influences with accessibility to great effect and the development of Condon's lyrics leaves much to look forward to. It's 'Port of Call' that finishes the album strongly opening with delicate ukulele, before horns and keys filter in slowly whilst Condon's voice booms through the track. Yet it's the lyrics that hit strongest tackling the theme of loneliness that has been running throughout the album, the track ends on a positive note with Condon accepting what he is and looking forward to the future. For Beirut, the future is very bright indeed.