First off I know this is a compilation album, but it does have a fair few originals and some reworks so I think it warrants a review of its own. I discovered this album and consequently the band itself at the time of its release. The thing that stood out to me immediately was Zach's vocal performance. He has this way of singing in a strained, hurt way that really resonates with me. The production throughout the album is pretty stripped back, there isn't a lot going on at once at any single point, it relies heavily on Zach's vocals to create melodies which the other instruments seem to play off of.

I

LOVE

IT

Sure it's long and meandering, there's no constant theme and some tracks seem a bit dull. But I cannot help but find it oh so charming. Zach manages to create a sound signature unlike anything I've heard before. Most of their previous work is heavily influenced by eastern european folk music with some twists thrown in here and there. Artificats contains a bit more experimentation, you'll hear a drum machine or a synth out of nowhere. But none of it is jarring. As you listen to it more and more it blends into a cohesive piece. Certain passages invoke an almost painful sense of nostalgia, longing and even comfort in me. A feeling so uniquely Beirut's. I've listened to this album for 2 years fairly regularly, but I've never had a clue what he's singing about. It simply doesn't matter to me either, I feel attuned to the sound, it feels personal. Each individual track is sometimes drastically different from the last. I'm usually strongly against playing albums on shuffle, but for this particular album I do it all the time.

There's a retro-futurism mediterranean theme to this album, or at least I seem to think. It merges traditional sounds like harps, organs, trumpets and bugles with synths, drum machines and funky vocal plugins. I can see why that might be a turn-off for some, but I am rather indifferent to it. The core of this album to me is the melodies and auditory snapshots that lurk beneath the surface just out of reach yet omnipresent.

Everyone has certain album(s) like these. You can spin it at any mood, at any time of day, at your highest, at your lowest, on an uneventful day. That album which has stuck with you through drastically changing circumstances and provided you with the same sense of comfort that also paradoxically seems to evolve and grow with you. An album that you know you'll be revisiting for the rest of your life to reconnect with the deepest links within yourself. This is that album for me.

Highlights

• Now I'm Gone
• Scenic World
• O Leazinho
• Sicily
• Interior of A Dutch House

I really could list every single track off of here from memory, but these are the standouts for me.

Final Thoughts

An album I'll come back to for the rest of my life, it's a special, special one.