The Rip Tide is the third studio album by the American indie folk band Beirut, released on August 30, 2011. The album debuted at No. 88 on the Billboard 200, and peaked at No. 80 a month later. The album has sold 93,000 copies in the US as of August 2015. The album has received mostly positive reviews. Recording Beirut's Zach Condon decided to write the album after a rough tour in Brazil, where he suffered a perforated eardrum and was involved in a stage invasion. Unlike previous Beirut albums, The Rip Tide was more reflective of places closer to home; for example, the song "Santa Fe" was a homage to Condon's hometown. Condon reflected on that, saying "The vagabond thing – that was a teenage fantasy that I lived out in a big way. Music, to me, was escapism. And now I'm doing everything that is the opposite [of that] in my life. I'm married. I've got a house. I've got a dog. So it felt ridiculous, the narrative of what my career was supposed to be, compared to what I was actually trying to attempt in my life." Influenced by the recording of For Emma, Forever Ago, Condon wrote The Rip Tide while he spent six months in isolation living in a Bethel, New York winter cabin. Unlike Beirut's previous albums, the music was recorded as a band playing together instead of laying down individual tracks one at a time. However, the lyrics were only added by Condon after all the music had been recorded. Release The first news that Beirut was recording a new album came in the winter of 2010–11 with an announcement from Ba Da Bing records: After recording, Beirut toured throughout Europe and the US, playing several songs that would appear on the album, including, "Vagabond," "Santa Fe," and "Port of Call.". On June 3, 2011, the band released The Rip Tides first single, "East Harlem," with "Goshen" as its B-side, with a physical release on June 6, 2011. On June 7, 2011, Beirut officially announced the existence of the new album, disclosing both the title and track listing. The Rip Tide was originally going to be released on August 30, 2011. Unlike previous albums, The Rip Tide was self-released on Condon's own Pompeii Records. However, an internet leak pushed the album's iTunes Store released date to August 2, 2011. The physical edition of