American singer-songwriter Zach Condon himself wrote, composed and recorded the 12 tracks of this album which perpetuates this sonic path that Beirut began to trace 17 years ago. Folk here is still strongly tinged with the instruments and rhythms that Eastern European music inspires, creating a fusion that one would recognize among a thousand, for very good reasons.
Firstly because the artist knows how the trumpet (omnipresent), the organ, the synthesizers, the strings or the French horn can coexist in sumptuous arrangements that take you soaring.
Hadsel is the town in Norway where Condon (who likes to give his songs place names) spent most of his time in 2020. He created part of the album there, including a title track that opens the album, bringing to mind what the EP Lon Gisland already proposed in 2006.
What is our favorite piece from this new Beirut album? All at once. This album is an object that is best appreciated in its entirety. If listening to 47 minutes may seem long to some whose attention span is diminishing, the disc also has the great quality of being digestible despite its complexity. It’s not easy pop music to assimilate and yet, you never have the impression that these three quarters of an hour drag on.
The fact that all the pieces are our favorites, however, reveals a downside in our appreciation of this offering: a certain lack of relief. We won’t go so far as to say that the pieces are repetitive, but we certainly don’t find a great diversity of tones, everything looks the same. What makes the offer homogeneous and pleasant to skim from start to finish also makes it sometimes a little dull. Jolts occur, notably thanks to the synthesizers and especially at the end of the album.
The pace is generally slow (that’s a good thing!), the arrangements are contemplative, Zach Condon’s voice is captivating. We meditate on Beirut, we don’t dance. As the winter cold sets in, Hadsel radiates a comforting warmth that we welcome with joy.
Extract of So Many Plans
Folk
Hadsel
Beirut
Pompeii