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Zach Condon is the musician, man and voice behind Beirut and Realpeople. His latest release is double EP entitled March of the Zapotec / Holland. The first, March of the Zapotec, was recorded with a 17-piece Mexican funeral band while Condon was travelling in the region. The second, Holland, was a resurrection of his earlier bedroom-composing synth-pop days under the name Realpeople. The EPs are seemingly polar opposites in terms of genre and style but, packaged together, they show how utterly versatile and unique Condon’s music could be.
Condon travels around the world and expresses what he sees, hears and feels through his music. From Eastern European influences in his first album, Gulag Orkestar, to an obsession with the French chanson in his second album, The Flying Club Cup, March of the Zapotec shows that Zach Condon has moved on to a whole new sound. March of the Zapotec is comic and almost carnivalesque at times but it is structured around heavy funereal sounds from brass instruments, which gives the EP a darker, melancholic impression that seems to speak of the sense of loss.
‘La Llorona’ (Spanish for ‘the weeping woman’) is perhaps the most representational song on March of the Zapotec. The squeaky, lumbering and yet symphonic collaboration of the brass players, the quiet, almost undetected, voice of a woman, the perfectly-timed clashes of cymbals and the soft, crooning voice of Zach Condon make ‘La Llorona’ expressive of human life, quiet melancholy, and the gaping sense of loss. Condon’s velvet voice and original sense of composition reaches its climax on ‘The Akara’. The ukulele is a most-welcomed sound after my initial dismay that Condon might have omitted it completely due to his strong dependence on the instrument in his earlier releases.
Holland is quite an interesting diversion from the main Beirut sound. You may cringe when I say that it is inspired by electronic ‘80s synth-pop, but you are in for a surprise. Holland boasts some musical gems including ‘Venice’, which uniquely combines synthesised beats with beautifully harmonised trumpets, and ‘The Concubine’, which addictively chimes and pulsates with a rhythm. However, ‘No Dice’ sounds like it could be remastered background music for some old ‘80s NES video game with its swirl of rhythmic beeps and beats. It is a strange song to choose to end the EP with, almost incongruous to the rest.
The songs on March of the Zapotec / Holland may not be instantly charming like Beirut’s previous songs, ‘Postcards from Italy’, ‘Rhineland (Heartland)’, ‘Elephant Gun’ and almost everything off The Flying Club Cup. All you need to do is to just give March of the Zapotec / Holland time to let the layers of music and Condon’s voice work their magic on you. This is music that is not to be missed.
March of the Zapotec / Holland is out now.
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