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Today, with the release of new single "The Tern," Zach Condon brings listeners further into the arctic and awe-inspiring world of Beirut's anticipated new album, Hadsel. Out November 10th on his own Pompeii Records, the LP is the project's first in nearly five long years, named after the life-changing location that inspired its creation. After persistent throat issues forced Condon to cancel Beirut's remaining tour dates in 2019, he questioned whether he would ever be able to play a live show again, stumbling blindly through a shocking cloud of self-doubt, and the impending mental collapse he had been pushing aside since he was a teenager. Seeking refuge in a remote area of Northern Norway, where the sun barely rose above the horizon, he soon proved to himself that he can once again manage on his own: surrounded by snow-covered mountains, sprawling fjords and fearsome storms, he began forming the foundation of these 12 tracks inside a small cabin and a 19th Century, octagonal church. By the grace of a local collector named Oddvar, Condon spent his nights writing and recording at the Hadselkirke's towering organ, and songs like "The Tern" encapsulate the album's way of finding warmth, solace and rebirth in the most extreme darkness.
Listen to "The Tern" via Pompeii Records / Secretly Distribution:
https://beirut.lnk.to/TheTern
Following "So Many Plans," a soaring first preview that delivered Beirut's strongest streaming launch to date, the message and arrangement of "The Tern" climb to similarly ascendant heights. Zach Condon explains, "The base of this song comes from an old Roland synthesizer and drum machine part which I had lying around from a previous Berlin session. The lyrics I improvised on the spot and finished the song off by adding layers of church organs and hand percussion. I stacked the parts high despite always being afraid of overdoing it. In the end I was confused how I had written such a seemingly positive and even hopeful song, but once I took a closer look at the lyrics, I saw the real nature of the hidden defeat and triumph of caution rather than of hope."
Since first starting the project as a wanderlusting 14-year-old, Zach Condon has remained one of the most consistently inspired, revered and endlessly curious forces in independent music. He has maintained millions of listeners and played the world's most illustrious stages, but Hadsel marks the start of Beirut's next chapter – a renewed beginning in a career that continues to embrace fresh sounds and foreign settings.
On February 16th and 17th, 2024, Zach Condon will return to the stage for Beirut's first live shows since that fateful 2019 tour. At the magnificent Tempodrom in his current home city of Berlin, Condon will be joined by an ensemble of new and returning members including Aaron Arntz (piano), Ben Lanz (trombone/sousaphone/piano), Clarice Jensen (cello), Griffin Rodriguez (bass), Kyle Resnick (trumpet), Nick Petree (drums/percussion) and Yuki Numata (violin). As the only concerts he plans to perform in support of the entirely self-written, self-recorded and self-produced Hadsel, Condon and the band will expand the music from its solitary roots and combinations of modular synths, baritone uke and horns, into a sweeping, collective experience of beauty and wonder.
Beirut's Tempodrom shows are on-sale at 10am CEST this Friday, October 13th. Find tickets and more information at beirutband.com/tour
Pre-Order Hadsel Here
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