Beirut - a sunday smile, 2007

"You can usually rely on New York’s Beirut for a rousing drunken sing-along but A Sunday Smile, the new single from his second album The Flying Cup Club, is more like a gentle hangover. The Eastern European influence is less pronounced here than on his excellent previous album and the song’s tempered waltz and French accordions suggest a move west across the Balkans. It’s less bawdy, more refined, like gathering round the piano in your Sunday finest instead of knocking back vodka in a Communist tower block. Not as much fun perhaps but Beirut’s anachronistic music continues to enthral."