New Music From Beirut

Vagabond cum musician Zach Condon, the main brain behind orchestral indie outfit Beirut, has just announced the band’s much anticipated third full-length album, The Rip Tide, which is due to hit shelves August 30.

Beirut has always been known for leaving unique “geo-musical” stamps on their albums, the sounds of a particular region of the world worn proudly on the album’s sleeve (no pun intended). It was the brass and stomp of the Balkans on the band’s debut, the waltz and pop of France on their second, and Mexican festival music on the band’s last ep. While each album is most definitely sonically identifiable as a Beirut album (always complete with ukulele, accordion, piano, a soulful croon and lots of brass), they can sometimes seem like isolated musical events. Wonderful in their uniqueness, but when viewed as a discography, a little dissonant in their disconnectivity.

But here the band seems to have freed themselves from their self-imposed constraints of place and are comfy just sounding like themselves. All the musical landmarks are still there: wistful ukulele strums, waltzing pianos, punchy brass, military drum rolls, and Condon’s beautifully expressive voice, but the influences once worn externally have now been fully internalized. Consumed, digested, and metabolized into a sound that is uniquely their own. Have a listen below.

Chris aims to expose viewers to some of the most legit tunes of the times, peeling back the layers of what’s relevant in current music events, with up-to-date posts of new artists and releases. Living in Chicago, Chris manages his own blog dedicated to new music releases, clips of new musicians, and announcements of upcoming shows at cool venues.

.ff