Beirut

The joy of Beirut’s follow-up to 2007’s The Flying Club Cup has much to do with its delivery. Rather than package the 11-song collection as a regular ole album, Beirut mastermind Zachary Condon has split the release up into two EPs, each about as divergent from the other as musically possible. Where March of the Zapotec melds Condon’s lush vocals with a 19-piece backing band out of Oaxaca, Holland layers trip-hoppy arrangements on top of delightfully playful beats. The highlight here is by far Holland’s lead track, “My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille.” As its twinkling synth and syncopated drums move the listener from Mexico to Europe, you get a true sense of Condon’s worldliness and why, no matter how you dress them up, his lyrics remain universally truthful.