A trip to Europe at the impressionable age of 17 proved to be the turning point of Santa Fe native Zach Condon’s young life. He discovered Balkan music, which led him to further explore the far corners of the world’s musical offerings. Condon recorded his first album, Gulag Orkestar, while studying photography and Portuguese at the University of New Mexico. Since that studious undertaking, Condon and his musicians have released 5 EPs, and 3 full-length albums. Their latest, the 9-track The Rip Tide, represents a shift toward more traditionally American pop sounds.

Beirut favors such instruments as the harmonica, the trumpet, and the piano, as is evident from the opening track, “A Candle’s Fire”. This instrumentation remains more or less the same across the album, with a little paring down here and there. “Goshen 1” and “The Rip Tide 1” channel Ben Folds, with their mournful piano solos. While the overall effect is aurally pleasing, it can become a bit repetitive with only 9 tracks. The intros to “Payne’s Bay” and “A Candle’s Fire” could be twins.

At times, the band’s lyrics tend to be a bit vague. In “A Candle’s Fire”, Condon observes that “A candle’s fire is only just a flame”, and “He’s the only one that knows the words” are practically the only lyrics in “The Peacock 1”. In other tracks, such as “Vagabond”, an overwhelming sense of loss comes through in the lyrics, “Left a bag of bones / a trail of stones / for to find my way home now / as the air grows cold / the trees unfold / and I am lost”.

Repetition aside, the members of Beirut are talented musicians with a penchant for intriguing lyrics and instrumental combinations. The Rip Tide takes listeners on a voyage that may have them wishing for more.

Final Words: Turn this on while soaking in the tub after a lousy day.