Beirut

Beirut is the alias of 21-year-old Zach Condon, the freakishly talented musician from New Mexico who dropped out of high school, then again out of college, and, you know, just hopped on a plane to France. There, Condon befriended a homesick Serbian whose stereo regularly drenched the neighborhood with sorrowful Eastern European ballads and inspired Beirut’s first full-length, Gulag Orkestar. Fans who were at once awe-struck by the novelty and saddened by the melancholy tambourine-accordion-ukulele march of Orkestar will feel a similar emotional push-pull from Beirut’s sophomore effort, The Flying Club Cup. The lyrics remain romantic, longing and characteristically wailed. But the Balkan and French-inspired instrumentation now lifts that sad overtone with a dreamier, waltzing quality.