Beirut - The Rip Tide

(Pompeii)

For such a unique artist with a truly intercontinental approach to music, taking inspiration from the lineage of North American alternative indie rock and the instruments and styles of Eastern European music, there’s a lot that sounds familiar in this third record from Zach Condon’s main recorded project. The very first song, the measured, brass-laden (a recurring feature here) ‘A Candle’s Fire’, features a vocal from Condon which imitates to perfection The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, while the tender, waltz-timed ‘Payne’s Bay’ and the hymnal ‘The Peacock’ recall Rufus Wainwright.

These are easy but appropriate comparisons; artists who also make delicately composed and personal music which occasionally lacks bite, but who often get it as right as Condon does with the swooning ‘Santa Fe’.