Beirut: "Nantes"

Today you will be treated to a romantic vision of a man with a confident vibrato singing as he walks down the street alongside an accordion player. And you'll either love this or you'll not. Speaking for myself, the way singer Zach Condon drags out every syllable, vibrating the ends of the notes, sliding from one to the next, makes me melt. He commands the musicians around him, directing them with his arms and his voice, leading the song. His voice holds together the ramshackle street gang (who are themselves wonderful musicians). This is an example of singer as leader.