Will Schube once spent the summer waiting tables at a Lebanese tennis club.
Beirut’s “No No No” begins with what sounds like doctor office waiting room music. The Casio’s plastic ring makes one wonder, “I waited four years for this shit?” No fear, jaded listener. “No No No” gets good. A lot better than most of “The Rip Tide,” “No No No’s” predecessor. The Casio gives way to a Rhodes, the tin percussion to a snare, and Zach Condon’s wanderingly desperate voice recalls the Beirut I fell in love with via “Nantes” and “A Sunday Smile.”
The four year delay between albums is, according to Condon, due to a mental breakdown, a divorce, and physical deterioration. Certainly a rough go, and it’s nice to see and hear Condon back and hopefully recapturing some of the magic his early records conjured up.
Over shuffling drums and that organ, Condon sees this as a chance for starting over. He sings, “Don’t know the first thing about who you are/My heart is waiting take it in from the start.” Woodwinds and horns lead the track towards its outro and “No No No” leaves me anxiously waiting for the full-length. The record isn’t out until September, but this is the first time in about eight years Beirut’s left me wanting more.
