 Beach House on the Moon is Jimmy Buffett's 31st album. Some have claimed that this late album is much more like early Buffett. This impression may be due to the fact that Beach House on the Moon is primarily an album of Buffett Ballads. Our tropical troubadour is in fine form, with cuts that you can imagine playing over soft sands in the evening. In the Caribbean, it is easy to lie out on the deck of a boat and gaze up at the stars, and this is a night sky album.
Many of the songs are contemplative and cool. "Beach House on the Moon" (inspired by his son Cameron Marley Buffett) sets the tone, "Permanent Reminder of a Temporary Feeling" adds a wry smile, and the cover of Bruce Cockburn's "Pacing the Cage" carries it through into a full swing late night brood.
The one raucus track on the album is "Math Suks," which will probably become a popular cathartic release for the math impaired in summer concerts. "I Will Play for Gumbo" is sizzling and mouth watering.
Don't miss the extra interactive track available to PC and Mac users. In this small multimedia track, Jimmy Buffett gives us a taste of the experience of the studio session. The real treat is a clip from an impromptu live show at the Margaritaville Cafe. The contrast between the studio session and the live performance shows what Buffett fans already knew: that Jimmy Buffett simply enjoys playing in real time with real people for a real audience more than laying down tracks in the studio. There is a magic connection between Jimmy Buffett, his band and his audience that is hard to stick in a bottle and throw into a lunar sea.
If I had to speculate on the location of that Beach House on the Moon, I would guess that it lies on the edge of Mare Tranquillitatis rather than Mare Nubium, Mare Nectaris or Mare Humorum. If you are feeling like a raving lunatic, this album will bring you safely back down to Earth.
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