Beirut, “East Harlem” (2011)
find it on The Rip Tide

Not to get all “I have the new Beirut album and you don’t” on you, but…well, you probably have it, too. It leaked like a water balloon at a shooting gallery (??). That’s what they get for having a release date so far in the future.

If you either have or haven’t heard it (generalization: everyone in the world falls into one of these two categories), then you either know or don’t that it’s easily the best Beirut album. I was always a little lukewarm on Beirut, like a fireball at an icecube convention (??), but this one, which is sure to be called “his most accessible yet” by every single writeup, is surely his most accessible yet. Which, in Beirut’s case, means that you’re thinking “what a great song” instead of “he really kind of overdoes that voice thing, doesn’t he”. There’s rumors floating around that a lot of the songs were written when he was a teenager, which might explain their straightforwardness and relative freedom from Zach Condon’s over-obsession with eastern European music, but personally, my guess is that those rumors are complete bullshit.

You probably also have heard “East Harlem”, since, for the last month or so, it’s been floating around like a rubber ducky at an above-ground swimming pool factory showroom (??), but if you haven’t, you must. SPOILER ALERT: it’s awesome. The “uptown, downtown” line is one of the sharpest hooks this year, and I have to hand it to Zach Condon for always giving us a little bit extra. Hard to believe that you wouldn’t be satisfied with that melody, but just in case you weren’t, here’s a lovely little coda to take it out, with some really great little horn-and-snare stabs.

Status: caffeinated.