Beirut announces “Artifacts”, a double-LPs worth of music tracing the evolution of Beirut, out 28th January 2022 via Pompeii Records
Shares unreleased track “Fisher Island Sound”
Zach Condon, the mastermind behind Beirut, has today announced Artifacts, a double-LP’s worth of music that traces the evolution of Beirut from the 14-year old Condon’s first attempts at bringing the music he heard in his mind to life, to the fully formed Beirut we know today. Artifacts will be released digitally on 28th January 2022 via Condon’s Pompeii Records with the physical release following on 4th March. Preorder is available here.
Artifacts began humbly as a means of compiling a few early Beirut EPs for a proper physical release. However, as Condon explains in the album’s excellent liner notes reconnecting with old recordings through fresh ears turned a simple re-issue project into something much more expansive. “When the decision came to re-release this collection, I found myself digging through hard drives looking for something extra to add to the compilation. What started as a few extra unreleased tracks from my formative recording years quickly grew into an entire extra records-worth of music from my past, and a larger project of remixing and remastering everything I found for good measure.” See the full tracklisting below. Artifacts will be released January 28, 2022 on Condon’s Pompeii Records.
To celebrate the announcement, Condon is sharing the never-before-released song “Fisher Island Sound” found on Side B: The Misfits. Of the song, he says, “This song was written while staying in band member Ben Lanz’s old family cottage on the coast of Connecticut, on the Fisher Island Sound. I played with the lines for years before trying to record versions of it in Brooklyn with the band. Perrin Cloutier had taught himself how to play a new button accordion beautifully, and the band was really sounding their best. I however, struggled in those years to put vocals on the songs and ended up scrapping a lot of the music from that era in this part of the collection due to fear, stress and self-doubt. I’ve come to rediscover some of these old songs in a different light since then, but they do remain a heavy reminder of unsteady times.”
A truly stunning new track. Building this immersive world that you long to stay within. Beirut allows this comforting warmth to shine amongst the tonality that is on offer throughout. A vintage aura that pulls you in, the intimate lyrical touch adds this personal complexity to the ensemble. There really is something so unique and honest with the arrangements that Beirut creates.
Beirut’s Zach Condon discovered Balkan brass music whilst travelling Europe in his youth, it became a sound he embraced when making his accomplished debut album, Gulag Orkestar, a record that belied his years and quickly put him on the map. Marking a fervently creative period for Zach, both an EP, Lon Gisland, and celebrated second album, The Flying Club Cup, followed just a year later. His double EP, March of the Zapotec and Real People Holland (one recorded with a 19-piece Mexican group, the other six electronic tracks made under the pseudonym Realpeople), offered a slight departure in sound before third full-length, Rip Tide, came five years after his debut and was noted by critics for showing a new maturity in his songcraft. Zach worked with producer Gabe Wax for both his fourth album, No No No, and his 2019 release, Gallipoli, which is named after the town in Puglia, Italy near where the record was made and “a distillation of the best of the Beirut sound and by far their best record yet” (The Line of Best Fit)
SIDE A – Lon Gisland, Transatlantique, O Leãozinho
01 – Elephant Gun
02 – My Family’s Role In The World Revolution
03 – Scenic World
04 – The Long Island Sound
05 – Carousels
06 – Transatantique
07 – O Leãozinho
SIDE B – The Misfits
08 – Autumn Tall Tales
09 – Fyodor Dormant
10 – Poisoning Claude
11 – Bercy
12 – Your Sails
13 – Irrlichter
SIDE C – New Directions and Early Works
14 – Sicily
15 – Now I’m Gone
16 – Napoleon On The Bellerophon
17 – Interior of a Dutch House
18 – Fountains and Tramways
19 – Hot Air Balloon
SIDE D – The B-Sides
20 – Fisher Island Sound
21 – So Slowly
22 – Die Treue zum Ursprung
23 – The Crossing
24 – Zagora
25 – Le Phare Du Cap Bon
26 – Babylon
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