For the past year, Beirut has alternated between touring in\nsupport of 2007’s much-lauded The Flying Club Cup and writing a\nwealth of new material.

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With no sense of a release in mind, bandleader Zach Condon\nrecorded in any style that struck his fancy. Some early discussions\nabout recording material for a film being shot in Mexico morphed\ninto a new idea: What about finding a local band in a small city in\nMexico, hiring them to play some new material, and recording the\nresult?

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It was a sincere challenge every step of the way. Condon had to\nfind the band, which he did through a bandmate’s mother who has\nconnections in Oaxaca. To communicate with the performers, he hired\na translator, who had to be able to speak English, Spanish, as well\nas Zapotec, the band members’ native language. From there, he flew\ndown to Oaxaca, travelling a half-hour out of town to the tiny\nweaver village of Teotitlan del Valle, where he met the nineteen\nmembers of The Jimenez Band. The ensuing weeks of recording,\nrewriting, and relating are documented in a series of short films\n(to be released online as the release date for March of the Zapotec\ndraws near).

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All well and good, but the six songs found on March are only a\npart of what this release has become. Before recording as Beirut,\nCondon went by Realpeople for his bedroom recordings, and he has\nrevived the name for the second half in this collection, Holland.\nAs opposed to March of the Zapotec, Holland collects a series of\nsongs conceived and completed at home.

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Together, this album-length double release represents the\ntotality of Condon’s work over the past year. March of the Zapotec\nis further testament toward the inventiveness and intimacy he\ncreates as Beirut. No matter what inspirations jumpstart any one\nparticular song, underlying it all is the realization that Condon\nis a singular artist creating an original sound. It would be a\nmisconception for Beirut’s sound to be considered a dabble in\nvarious styles, folk sounds, and music histories, because one could\nnever confuse Condon’s music for the original inspiration; all his\nsongs on this release carry more in common with each other than\nthey do their original source of inspiration.

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And whether he’s being inspired by Balkan folk, French\nchanteuse, Mexican troubadour, ’80s synth pop or ’90s house, the\ncommon thread remains Condon’s ability to personalise the\nsound.

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March of the Zapotec marks the continuing emergence of a\nmusician who has only shown an inkling of where he is headed. And\nwhile the road may be long, every stop along the way invites a new\nexperience. Enjoy the latest.

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