The boy who expressed in his awe-aspiring Nantes, “it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smile,” is sure to make you smile again uncontrollably with Beirut’s new album release The Rip Tide. Lead singer and founder of the band Zach Condon’s capability to create something pure, amalgamating the innocence of a child and the maturity of a passionate man, is undoubtedly one of his most inspiring assets.
The Rip Tide is Beirut's third album release.
Within the previous albums Gulag Orkestar (May 2006) and The Flying Cup (October 2009), the influence of Eastern European and Balkan folk music had a strong appeal. Committing once again to the sounds of a piano, a ukulele and a trumpet, there is something familiar to its sound, and yet it is amazingly fresh. Through the years Condon managed to masterfully depict the elements in these cultures that comprise Beirut’s definitive sound.
If you attempt to enter Condon’s world you will be introduced to an explosion of aromas, an abundance of colours and a passionate man. With Realpeople – a side project which Condon ran at the age of fifteen – you can enjoy the wonders of electronic music infused with a hint of a jazzy trumpet. With 1971 – a side project that was explored around the age of sixteen – you will experience a more delicate appeal which revolves around a guitar, a piano and vocals. What seems to hold all these routes together is a magical romanticism.
The Rip Tide – with the beat of the snare and the blowing of the trumpet I am ready to dance all the way from East Harlem to Santa Fe to celebrate the wonder of such magnificent musicians.
Elena Zeniou
