Over the past decade, Beirut's Zach Condon has been a go-to guy for what I like to refer to as "speciality indie rock". This is just a fancy way of saying that the music is unlike your typical indie sound. Beirut are masters when it comes to injecting world music elements into their repertoire, which has accumulated into a sizeable discography since their 2006 debut Gulag Orkestar. And although the boys may have faltered somewhat with previous effort No No No, they're back stronger than ever with their latest, Gallipoli.
As its title suggests, Beirut's fifth LP sees Condon and his caravan making a sonic journey from Gallipoli (that is, the town in southern Italy, rather than the Turkish peninsula) to other exotic-sounding destinations like Corfu in Greece and Mainau Island in Germany. Triumphantly and defiantly, the record opens with When I Die which pits glorious horns against Zach's melancholic songwriting ("When I die I want to travel light/ Or rinse my hands/ So I catch the satellite/ Don't cry, I promise that I'll get it right/ I've been practicing my whole life").
This segues gorgeously into the title track where Zach sings of "southern winds" and "scattered clouds" over the soaring brass section. Varieties Of Exile harks back to the band's early days, with ukulele and accordion being reintroduced to the fold. Elsewhere, we have Farfisa organ (On Mainau Island) and African hand drums (I Giardini), further adding to the world music inclinations.
Gauze Für Zah stands out with its two-minute-long ambient outro that wouldn't sound out of place on a Brian Eno record. Corfu, on the other hand, revisits the experimental spirit of On Mainau Island, resulting in perhaps one of the most vivid musical journeys the group has ever embarked on. The same could also be said for Family Curse, a three-minute-and-a-half opus that brings together various instruments underpinned by multilayered synths. As a whole, not only is Gallipoli a beautiful homage to the band's roots, it's also a map showing where Beirut are headed as a band of seasoned troubadours.
Quotable lyrics: "What ghost has led me through to you?/ What clock will beat against the stairs?/ With chalk I outline my affairs/ And that is how I disappear" (I Giardini).
Listen to this: Gallipoli, On Mainau Island, Gauze Für Zah, Corfu, Family Curse.
THE PLAYLIST
Kevin Morby / No Halo
"When I was a boy/ No rooftop on my joy/ When I was a child/ No one, nowhere, no how, nothing was not made of fire," LA singer-songwriter Kevin Morby begins on the handclap-heavy No Halo, the lead cut from his upcoming double-LP Oh My God. As the song progresses, we're treated to isolated piano keys, billowy flutes and sultry sax. "And hey, hey, hey/ No, no, no halo," he further elaborates during the chorus, his vocals retaining that happy medium between folk and indie rock. Co-produced by Sam Cohen (Norah Jones, Pavo Pavo), the follow-up to 2017's brilliant City Music boasts a more stripped-down sound or, in Morby's own words: "Stark, like a painting that's black-and-white with one vibrant blue." Yves Klein had better watch out.
Palmy / Kid Teung
After racking up a cool 100 million views on YouTube with her masterful synth-pop ballad Sohn Klin, Palmy is gearing up to do the same, if not more, with its follow-up, Kid Teung (Miss You). Like Sohn Klin, the song is an ode to those feelings of deep longing you have for someone who's no longer there. "Each night I see nobody there/ Keep hanging on even though my heart quivers," she sings over a surge of forlorn horns and shuffle rhythms. "You're no longer here/ Yet everything remains the same/ I am missing you."
Foals / Sunday
Sunday arrives as the third serving of Foals' fifth LP, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1. A follow-up to upbeat lead cuts Exits and On The Luna, the song finds the UK indie-rock stalwarts in ballad territory, offering up a dose of what sounds like a ghostly waltz dedicated to the demise of humanity. "Time has come and time is done/ Cities burn, we've got youth to spend/ And time to waste," sings Yannis, reiterating the record's central dystopian theme. "When all is said and all is done/ Our fathers run and leave all the damage/ They've done behind/ Left us with the blind leading the blind." And if anyone's missing the grunge urgency of their previous album What Went Down, stick around until the end where you'll be handsomely rewarded.
Mac DeMarco / Nobody
Mac DeMarco's latest cut Nobody continues along the dejected trajectory we first experienced with 2017's This Old Dog. Here, the slacker rocker intones alongside plucked guitar while the song's sonic sparseness is matched by its laconic lyrics: "I'm a preacher/ A done decision/ Another creature/ Has lost its vision." As a whole, Nobody shares a few similarities with Connan Mockasin's Les Be Honest, especially in the understated off-kilter department. The track is set to appear on Here Comes The Cowboy, an album described as his "cowboy record", due out in May.
The National / You Had Your Soul With You
Indie-rock's premier miserablists The National must be on some top-shelf antidepressants because their latest cut, You Had Your Soul With You, brims with warm lights and optimism. Lifted from their forthcoming album I Am Easy To Find, the track finds baritone-voiced Matt Berninger teaming up with David Bowie's long-time collaborator Gail Ann Dorsey. "I have owed it to my heart every word I've said/ You have no idea how hard I died when you left," the pair sing in duet. "If I yield to my trances/ Will I get up close again?" Apart from Dorsey, the forthcoming record is said to also feature a host of female guests including Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, Mina Tindle and Kate Stables.
