When I discovered Beirut in 2006, I thought I had found my calling in life: to listen to Beirut non-stop for the next decade. I bet you can imagine how excited I was for the “double feature” release of March of the Zapotec and Holland last week. Well, I'm glad it was a double feature. If it weren't for the second half of the album, I might've had to find a new vocation.

When I discovered Beirut in 2006, I thought I had found my calling in life: to listen to Beirut non-stop for the next decade. I bet you can imagine how excited I was for the “double feature” release of March of the Zapotec and Holland last week. Well, I'm glad it was a double feature. If it weren't for the second half of the album, I might've had to find a new vocation.

For those of you who don't know, Zach Condon, the mastermind behind the indie-folk band Beirut, just put out a new EP under two different monikers; the first six tracks, called “March of the Zapotec,” are Beirut, but the last 5, “Holland,” are Condon's solo works, credited with the stage name Realpeople.

Let's start with March of the Zapotec. What it has a lot of: brass, Mexican flavor, brass, melancholia, some familiar balkan/gypsy-ish rhythms, brass, horns and brass. What it lacks: sweet vocal melodies, any one stand-out track, stringed instruments and pacing.

Beirut's overuse of horns is unforgivable. It takes away from the sweet sound the band is loved for and greatly decreases the diversity (aka the interesting-ness) of the EP. Yes, I did like the new Mexican tone, and yes, I do understand that brass is a big part of that type of sound, but without their usual playful violin plucks, operatic yet boyish vocals and heavier use of ukulele, March of the Zapotec sounds too loud and unconvincing. There's nothing to balance out the brass—to round it out and give it some of that soft, innocent sweetness previously associated with Beirut.

So that was disappointing. But luckily, there's Holland, too.

Somehow, I find Condon's 5-track electronic-pop compilation to be almost more evocative of the old Beirut than March of the Zapotec. This is mostly due to the vocal melodies that Condon presents in Holland. Passionate, but optimistic rather than melancholy, Condon's singing plays a much bigger role on this half of the EP than the former, and to outstanding effect. The instrumental voices on all 5 tracks are well mixed and pleasing. I find each song from Holland to be better than any song on March of the Zapotec.

3/5 Wooves